By SAM PHIRI –
WHEN President Edgar Lungu took office as Zambia’s sixth Head of State, it was only prudent that his administration went flat-out carrying out infrastructure developmental project started by his predecessor late Michael Sata.
These are massive and visible infrastructure developments that have been realised through sound relation between Zambia and other world economies like China that are on record of giving Zambia support for a long time.
This is why newly-elected as he may be, President Lungu’s preoccupation has been to strengthen bilateral relations with other countries in the global village, taking into account the great significance of globalisation and liberalisation in today’s economies.
Economies like China which have been long standing economic partners for Zambia since independence have attracted the president’s interest in continued with them.
In doing this, President Lungu had to leave the country severally to woo investors to find Zambia as one of the most attractive destinations for investors and safe for tourism.
Economically viable as they may be, these trips have been misinterpreted by may Zambians who are perceiving them as wasteful without considering the long-term economic benefits they have.
One of the trips that undoubtedly brought mixed expressions was the China trip which had a huge presidential delegation.
From the terraces, one might be correct to perceive it as wasteful, but critically scrutinising why the president tagged along a huge delegation dispels all wrong accessions.
Like opposition FDD leader and Edith Nawakwi, she has seen no economic benefits in the Presidential trips describing it as a waste of tax-payers’ money.
The same can be said about her counterpart the ADD leader Charles Milupi who in his opinion President Lungu’s trip would have been fewer to channel resources to other projects.
Foreign Affairs Minister Harry Kalaba explains that president Lungu is new on the scene thus his tours of other SADIC nations and China remained critical as it acquainted with the happenings in the global economic setup.
“President Lungu does not just take trips because he has to take one. The trips are scrutinised thoroughly to ascertain their economic before they are undertaken,” he says.
He adds; “Zambia was a landlocked country and that by undertaking such beneficial trips President Lungu wants to ensure that the country was land-linked.”
Before the China trip, that the President traveled to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia to attend the African Union (AU) Ordinary Summit, Zimbabwe to hold official talks with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) chairperson Robert Mugabe Angola to witness the official opening of the Benguela railway line on its side.
One complete on the Zambian side, the rail line will provide an opportunity for Zambia to easily transport copper and other commodities to Angola.
Mr Kalaba also disclosed that President Lungu had instructed the Foreign Affairs Ministry to intensify talks with multi-lateral institutions.
He said the Zambia needs to have a lot of Zambian representatives at the international level like the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United Nations.
While in China, the President managed to secure loans and pledges of investment into the country totaling around US$2 billion.
The minister assures the people that Chinese Investment in-flows would create more quality jobs in most parts of Zambia.
Whilein China, President Lungu and his delegation signed a number of cooperation and bilateral agreements that would result in an improved economy for the country.
President Lungu’s Special Assistance for Press and Public Relations Amos Chanda, makes it clear that the presidential trips may not show immediate results but would do so in due course.
Mr Chanda adds that more global economic powers have already invited President Lungu visits them for various engagements that would turn into economic gains for Zambia.
He further takes a swipe at the FDD leader, and her ADD counterpart, that they should not continue telling lies to Zambians about the President’s trips.
“It is trivial for the two opposition leaders to assume that President Lungu’s trip to China was not worthwhile,” he says.
Mr Chanda has said the recent presidential visit to China and other countries should not be politicised but supported.
He says even powerful countries are queuing up to visit China and its leadership for economic benefits and ties.
President Lungu himself has made a clear assurance that that Government would not fail to perform its functions in the period he has been mandated to lead.
The President is fully aware of some individuals who are working behind closed doors to try and frustrate and sabotage the efforts of Government.
It is without doubt that several bilateral trade agreements under President Lungu have been signed to spur growth in the long run.
There is surely great economic benefit arising from the international engagements by the head of state in the few months he has served.
The Government also disclosed that Zambia has attracted a total of $2.4 billion in investment pledges from Chinese companies during President Edgar Lungu’s recent state visit.
One other major benefit of bilateral ties that President Lungu has promoted in the recent past is the bilateral trade which would see goods and services between two countries reap benefits of exporting various products.
President Lungu’s foreign trips should therefore not be watched from terraces as benefits that are yet to come from the same may be enough to silence his armchair critics.