OWN CORRESPONDENT, LUSAKA | Sunday 8.30pm.
PRESIDENT Thabo Mbeki wound-up a two-day state visit to Zambia with a promise to address Zambian complaints over terms of trade.
Mbeki told a meeting with the business community in Zambia, however, that perceived imbalances were largely a result of the relative weakness of other economies in the region.
“For example, South Africa has no problem with Zambia joining the South African Customs Union,” Mbeki said on Saturday. “but other members of the union have specific problems which they would like to address with Zambia.”
Mbeki was responding to calls by Trade and Industry Minister David Mpamba for the speedy inclusion of Zambia in the union, which groups a number of southern African countries.
South African exports to Zambia amount to over $330-million annually while Zambian emports to South Africa are worth about $33-million.
Mbeki said Zimbabwe, which had been given preferential trade terms in the textile sector, had failed to meet its quota of exports and cited this as an example of weaknesses in other economies in the region.
Earlier, Mbeki, who was on his first state visit since taking over from retired President Nelson Mandela in June, visited the graves of leaders from his African National Congress (ANC) who died during the struggle against apartheid.
Mbeki spent many years in exile in Zambia when the ANC was headquartered there. — AFP