Republican President Hakainde Hichilema has invited the business community in Japan to invest in Zambia which is an attractive hub for investment.
President Hichilema has told the Japanese business community that the country has the necessary prerequisites for viable business investments.
Speaking at the Zambia-Japan Business Forum in Tokyo this morning, the Head of State acknowledged Zambia’s central location as an advantage for business investments.
“We are a land-linked country and because of our centrality, it will take you to the tip of Southern Africa, the eastern and western coasts and gravitate towards the north. So really, Zambia is the place to be with all those ingredients,” President Hichilema said.
President Hichilema stated that his administration has worked tirelessly to create a peaceful business environment regulated by the rule of law.
“We’ve also been working very hard to improve the operating environment. We have established the rule of law, which is very important and that was one of our agendas when we took public office,” he said.
Aside from the rule of law, President Hichilema noted that his government has also boosted the country’s potential and opportunities for investment by successfully carrying out the process of debt restructuring.
“As you know, we also had a debt burden, and since we took office three years ago, we have worked very hard to restructure the debt which has helped to create some headroom in our balance sheet to do more things on the investment and trade side,” he said.
He recalled that Zambia and Japan have had a long-standing bilateral cooperation that must be revived and further extended an invitation to Japanese business firms to come and invest in the country.
“From my early days, we had Japanese companies doing business in the mining sector, and we want them to have a rebound of what it has been for many years. I think it is just like coming back home,” he said.
President Hichilema invited the Japanese business community to explore investment opportunities in Zambia, particularly in sectors such as mining, energy, agriculture, and manufacturing.
