Staff Reporter

His Excellency the President and First Secretary of ZANU PF Cde E. D. Mnangagwa today toured the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport Development Project which he said would boost the current positive growth and transformation trends in trade and tourism in the country.

In its Manifesto, ZANU PF promised to recover lost export markets and re-open Zimbabwe for global business thereby fulfilling the “Zimbabwe is Open for Business” mantra.

The New Dispensation has also prioritised infrastructure development as promised in the ZANU PF 2018 People’s Manifesto. President Mnangagwa is on record for saying Zimbabwe needs to improve on its infrastructure development. More resources have been channeled towards speeding up key infrastructural development projects.

After completion, the Robert Gabriel International Airport would be one of the regional flight hubs and one of the best airports in Southern Africa.

President Mnangagwa said, “The completion of this project should boost the current positive growth and transformation trends in trade and tourism in the country and help to create synergies within the global value chain. To achieve this, closer collaboration among the civil aviation authorities, trade and tourism promotion authorities must be strengthened.

“Since coming into office, the Second Republic has prioritised infrastructure development across the various sectors, which is our recognition of the importance of infrastructure as a primary means to sustainable economic development. The availability of appropriate and adequate infrastructure is indeed a game changer with convenience associated with an upper middle income economy which we are becoming,” President Mnangagwa said.

His Excellency highlighted that the completion of the upgrade is a strategic national project that will have a far reaching impact on sectors of the economy.

“The completion of this upgrade is therefore one of the strategic national projects outlined under the National Development Strategy 1 and will have far reaching impact on other sectors of the economy in line with our rapid growth and modernisation. This development will further enhance safety of airport operations, reduce airport delays and bring more comfort for air transport travellers. I am confident that through this accomplishment, Zimbabwe will be competitive as an air transport hub,” President Mnangagwa said.

Speaking at the same event, President Mnangagwa urged supporting service providers and complementing facilities like accommodation facilities, airport transfer services, food and beverage outlets as well as ICT facilities among others to ready themselves for investment in and around the expanded airport.

Refurbishment of the existing terminals at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe Airport will also be done.