Yesterday, State House welcomed His Excellency Mr. Takeuchi Kazuyuki, Ambassador of Japan, along with his delegation, for discussions centered on enhancing bilateral cooperation between Zambia and Japan. The meeting holds significance as both nations celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic ties.
Emphasizing the foundation of their relations, President Hakainde Hichilema highlighted shared values of good governance, political stability, respect for human rights, and the rule of law. These principles have formed the bedrock of collaboration between the two countries over the years.
Japan’s assistance to Zambia has been pivotal, spanning key sectors including agriculture, energy, health, education, infrastructure, and private sector development. Notably, Japan’s support through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) frameworks has greatly contributed to Zambia’s development trajectory.
Expressing gratitude for Japan’s aid during crises, President Hichilema highlighted the invaluable assistance provided during the fight against cholera through the provision of emergency relief supplies.
Acknowledging Japan’s culture of hard work and commitment to excellence, President Hichilema expressed Zambia’s aspiration to emulate these qualities. Leveraging this spirit, both nations discussed opportunities for joint investment partnerships, particularly in sectors such as mining, agriculture, energy, tourism, and others of mutual interest, aimed at bolstering economic growth and development.
President Hichilema emphasized Zambia’s readiness to welcome increased Japanese investment, especially in the mining sector, highlighting the country’s abundance of critical minerals. He underscored the history of successful collaborations between Japanese companies and Zambia, particularly in areas like road construction, and urged a revisit of partnerships in this domain.
The meeting between President Hichilema and Ambassador Takeuchi Kazuyuki marks a reaffirmation of the enduring friendship and commitment to strengthening ties between Zambia and Japan, as they chart a path towards shared prosperity in the years ahead.
We need to move away from looking for foreign investment and focus more on local investors. We need to have an economy that is locally owned. That’s the way to empower our own people. You can’t have the economy owned by foreigners.
Foreign investment is ok, what is not ok is donor aid. Thats what we need to move away from. To be honest, Japanese have one of the best international corporation framework as they fund infrastructures such as schools, water and many others unlike others who fund system strengthening.
And why do we always have to look for investments from Foreigners?????…Japanese are busy developing their own country… the Chinese are busy developing their own country…the Americans are busy developing their own country and we are busy hooping from country to country looking for investment….and yet we have enough resources to develop Zambia on our own…
In Zambia, and in Africa generally, we essentially have a liability population who consume more than they produce. life ‘favors’ those who take action and not those who do nothing other than just pointing fingers. 200 years from now, Africa will have no natives. Stop being lazy. Earn your right to survive with your work.
Zambians were fooled by the fake Arabic Mining investors…..i told you guys that Arabs are even worse than the West…its just the same as choosing to be eaten by either a crocodile or a Lion…..
Collaborating with individuals from collectivist cultures with large power distance can be a rewarding experience that enriches your perspective and enhances teamwork. By understanding and respecting their cultural values, building trust and relationships, emphasizing group goals, communicating effectively, and being patient and flexible, you can foster positive working relationships and achieve success in cross-cultural collaborations.
As long as Hakainde looks only to the outside for development, Zambia is going nowhere. This is why Hakainde has invested all most of his money outside of Zambia because he does not believe in the Zambian economy. We need a leader who is going to be inward looking to use our natural resources to develop our economy. How did China do it? What can we as Zambia do? If Hakainde was intelligent those are the questions that should be keeping him awake at night and not how to get shares in the Zambian mines or how to fix UKA.
Does a Zambian need HH to tell him to invest? How many Zambians have the resources to seriously invest in mining, considering the capital requirements?
The unpredictable nature of our politics is what makes businessmen in politics spread their investments.
If you looked at some western countries, some of their major companies including football clubs have foreign major shareholders such as the Saudis, Japanese, Indians, the UAE etc.
I think we just need to make sure we are being smart in putting up reasonable taxes and that we are not importing labour and so called expatriates.
You buy a rat invested house and then go invite more rats of a different breed hopping that they will eat the existing rats. Rats do not eat rats. They will just cross breed and produce a more notorious rat. When will Africa ever learn. HH naba praise singers please twapapata.
Let me put it this way, on your way to the village to visit you take what you might need during your stay and something to give the folks. You guess that they might need sugar, salt and maybe cooking oil. Upon arrival they welcome you warmly and invite you to the fields and show you places for you to cultivate. They’re happy to receive your gifts but also present their problems like that their latrine collapsed last rainy season, all chickens are gone because they had a huge celebration at Xmas, etc. Then they encourage you to cultivate their fields so that there’s no hunger in the village, they request you to build them good and so forth. What would you be your honest view of the village folks? You’re Japanese and village folks are Zambia