Zimbabwe and Mozambique have agreed to intensify efforts to establish one-stop border posts at two of their crossing points and to construct a second pipeline to transport fuel between the Mozambican port of Beira and Harare, a senior official said on Thursday.
Zimbabwe’s permanent secretary for foreign affairs James Manzou said the 12th Session of the Joint Permanent Commission between Zimbabwe and Mozambique that met in Harare on Wednesday had agreed to fasttrack implementation of agreed projects such as the setting up of one-stop border posts at Forbes-Machipanda and Nyamapanda-Cuchamano.
“The one-stop border posts will address the bottlenecks to the smooth movement of people and goods that our people have been complaining about for far too long,” Manzou told the state-run Herald daily.
The decision to establish the one-stop border posts at Forbes-Machipanda and Nyamapanda-Cuchamano was agreed at the last session of the joint commission held in 2013.
Another priority project proposed during the latest joint commission meeting was the construction of a second pipeline from Beira to Harare, Manzou said.
“Looking into the future fuel requirements of the country and region, Zimbabwe has proposed to build a second pipeline from Beira to Mutare and on to Harare.
“It is my hope that negotiations on this issue will be conducted with the urgency they deserve and concluded,” Manzou said.
Mozambique provides the shortest route to the sea for Zimbabwe’s imports and exports, with the bulk of Zimbabwe’s petroleum imports coming by pipeline from Beira.
JN/APA