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Cabinet has approved the Beira Development Corridor Agreement (BDCA) and a go ahead has been given for Zambia to sign it.
Zambia would be among the countries which had already signed the agreement namely; the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Malawi Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
The approved Agreement would now be taken to Parliament for the final stage of the ratification process.
Once ratified, it would be the fifth Corridor Agreement that Zambia would have since ratified under the current government.
Transport and Logistic Minister, Frank Tayali, announced the approval in a statement on Thursday.
The approval was done at the sitting of the 8th Cabinet Meeting chaired by President Hakainde Hichilema on Monday in Lusaka.
Commenting on the approval, Tayali said the corridor wa critical to enhancing regional and international trade competitiveness particularly for the landlocked countries of Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and DRC.
Tayali expressed optimism that the approval was a sure way in the country’s quest to creating a multi-modal transportation and economic development system in the region and beyond.
“It is in the interest of Cabinet for Zambia to sign and ratify the BDCA in order for the Agreement to enter into force and facilitate the creation of coordination mechanisms to address the challenges that require to be resolved by the five-member States.
“This will promote and facilitate infrastructure development, transit-transport cooperation and cross border trade among the five-member States and ensure that they benefit from the various initiatives and development projects to be undertaken by the various stakeholders and Cooperating Partners within the Corridor,” he said.
Meanwhile, Home Affairs and Internal Security Minister, Jack Mwiimbu, regretted that Zambia and DRC had not resolved the persistent challenges experienced at the Kasumbalesa border post.
He noted that the border post had been experiencing many challenges ranging from security, congestion and smuggling which had made it difficult to conduct trade and allow for efficient transit of traffic.
Mwiimbu said the two countries were, therefore, duty-bound to rectify the challenges faced at the Kasumbalesa border post.
He said this at the Inter-Ministerial Task Force Meeting of Ministers of Trade, Transport and Security Matters on the Resolution of the Challenges at the Kasumbalesa Border post in DRC.
“We collectively have the solutions to tackle the challenges and we can normalise entry and exit of trucks, vehicles and pedestrians between our two countries.
“We must address security concerns by making our border facilities more secure. We must implement effective border management procedures to facilitate trade between our two countries and the region at large,” he said.
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