Zambia PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema is today expected to travel to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) for a three days state visit to enhance bilateral relations and foster development.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Stanley Kakubo said that visit is at the invitation of his highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, to attend the Abu Dhabi sustainability week from January15th to 17th, this year.
“With Zambia being the chair of the Africa negotiation team lead up to Cop28, it provides an opportunity for the country to share ideas with other like-minded nations and institutions on sustainable renewable energy that resonates with the existing global climate change issues. In addition, President Hichilema has been invited to participate in a high level panel discussion on the topic “enabling africa to become a clean energy powerhouse”,” he said.
He said on the bilateral cooperation front, the invitation is not only a demonstration of the growing relations between the two countries, but also provides an opportunity to initiate new as well as operationalise existing cooperation agreements.
“The undertaking, which has come at a time when Zambia is faced with an energy deficit, will also set a platform for the head of state to unlock opportunities for increased investment in renewable and alternative sources of energy in zambia and by extension, address the perrenial electricity deficits,” he said.
Mr Kakubo said the Head of State has also lined up engagements with key UAE-government owned institutions that have expressed interest to cooperate with Zambia in strategic economic sectors, including energy, mining, finance, hospitality, agriculture and logistics.
“The President is focused on identifying opportunities and leveraging such opportunies to the betterment of Zambia. In this regard, he will continiue to engage with key strategic partners such as the UAE in a bid to grow the country’s economy, thus creating the much needed employment opportunities for the youth and improve living standards for all Zambians,”he said.
