By Maimbo Mweemba
Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Stanley Kakubo has appealed to the Japanese government to support Zambia restore debt sustainability.
Mr Kakubo made the appeal when he virtually addressed the ministerial meeting of the eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD8).
Mr Kakubo assured the Japanese government that Zambia has devised measures and remains committed to restoring debt sustainability and achieving economic transformation and diversification.
He urged TICAD to urgently find ways of helping countries restore economic growth and improve general living conditions following the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic.
Mr Kakubo observed that private sector and public private partnerships are critical in a post Covid era to help unlock and mobilise resources that can accelerate economic recovery and foster socio-economic development.
He said the mobilized resources under the private sector and public private partnerships can be used to support industrialization and generate employment, income and reduce socio-economic inequalities.
He also acknowledged that Official Development Assistance has been instrumental in providing additional resources from cooperating partners like Japan to support the private sector to increase their productive capacities and open up market access opportunities.
The Tokyo International Conference on African Development is held every three years, and TICAD7, was held in Yokohama in 2019.
The virtual TICAD meeting was held from March 26 to 27, 2022, under the theme “Achieving sustainable and inclusive growth with reduced economic inequalities.
