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Business Reporter

GOVERNMENT takes the diaspora community as a critical sector that cannot be left out in the country’s turnaround strategy and achievement of Vision 2030. 

Addressing Zimbabweans living in Birmingham, England during her visit last week, Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister, Prisca Mupfumira, said Zimbabwe’s re-engagement and re-construction as guided by the Transitional Stabilisation Programme and Vision 2030, will be difficult to attain without the participation of the diaspora community. 

The Minister’s re-engagement train started in London, straddling Glasglow, Liverpool, Huntingdon and Manchester.

At each step of the way tourism authorities have been urging Zimbabweans to come back home and invest in the economy especially within the tourism sector.

Minister Mupfumira, who led the engagement drive, shared with delegates and ordinary Zimbabweans in Birmingham on the synergies available and encouraged Zimbabweans to take part in development and joint venture initiatives under the new dispensation. 

“Since the ushering in of the Second Republic, Zimbabwe has been generating renewed confidence and interest throughout the world as a result of a vibrant re-engagement strategy and the Zimbabwe is open for business mantra,” she said.

“We are already working with business partners including airlines that will ease your travel back home to enjoy what the country has to offer. 

“This will be made possible, for example, through the introduction of special fares and packages for Zimbabweans in the diaspora. This in our view will not only reduce your travel costs but also make tourism packages relatively affordable.” 

The engagements were being held on the back of the tourism sector recording an increase in tourist arrivals and growth in the number of investment inquiries from both local and foreign prospective investors. 

“The unprecedented growth on the backdrop is riding on a number of factors that include aggressive marketing efforts, political transition ushering in a new political dispensation, harmonised elections, traffic boom, increased air seat capacity and Government’s new marketing mantra “Zimbabwe is open for business”. Indeed Zimbabwe is open for business,” said Minister Mupfumira. 

“In this positive trajectory, as Government we feel it would be amiss for us not to pay attention to you, the Zimbabwe diaspora, in this quest of rebuilding our beloved country. You are a very important and special constituency, which we cannot do without.

“Apart from contributing to tourism expenditure you are critical to boosting both domestic and international tourist arrivals. This is especially important given that conservatively we have more than four million of our people in the diaspora”.