WE WANT TO EXPAND ECONOMY – HH

By BARNABAS ZULU PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema says his administration is now focused on growing and expanding the economy after stabilising it from the shocks that it had suffered. Speaking when he received credentials from diplomats accredited to Zambia yesterday, Mr Hichilema said the country had moved from fiscal consolidation and economic stabilisation to the “Grow Zambia Agenda.” He said the new agenda would focus on accelerating economic growth, expanding the economy and creating more opportunities through investment and trade. “You’ve come at a time when this country is now moving rapidly into what we call the Grow Zambia Agenda, so from stabilisation to growth. And where we would like to exploit the opportunities that exist between Zambia and your respective countries. Our focus as a country now is to accelerate economic growth, expansion of the economy. That’s our agenda,” President Hichilema said. Mr Hichilema said the country’s foreign policy would continue to be anchored on economic diplomacy to support the country’s growth agenda. He said Zambia wanted to deepen bilateral and multilateral partnerships in areas such as trade, investment and business-to-business cooperation. For African countries, Mr Hichilema said Zambia was committed to increasing intra-African trade and investment, noting that the continent traded less among itself compared to other regions. “Africa does the least trade with itself. We want to change that, but we know that we can’t do that without the partnership of the countries that are represented here today,” he said. President Hichilema said the country was also seeking to move away from dependence on handouts towards partnerships that could generate investment and economic opportunities. He said peace, security and stability were equally important anchors of the country’s foreign policy because insecurity could undermine economic development. “Without peace, security, stability, we cannot have any chance in hell to drive our economic development agenda for mutual benefit,” Mr Hichilema said.

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