Riyadh Metro to begin partial operations next Wednesday: Report    Al Okhdood halts Al Shabab's winning streak with a 1-1 draw in Saudi Pro League    Mahrez leads Al Ahli to victory over Al Fayha in Saudi Pro League    Al Qadsiah hands Al Nassr their first defeat in the Saudi Pro League    Saudi musical marvels takes center stage in Tokyo's iconic opera hall    Downing Street indicates Netanyahu faces arrest if he enters UK    London's Gatwick airport reopens terminal after bomb scare evacuation    Slovak president meets Saudi delegation to bolster trade and investment ties    Civil Defense warns of thunderstorms across Saudi Arabia until Tuesday    Saudi Arabia, Japan strengthen cultural collaboration with new MoU    Saudi defense minister meets with Swedish state secretary    Navigating healthcare's future: Solutions for a sustainable system    Al Khaleej qualifies for Asian Men's Club League Handball Championship final    Sixth foreign tourist dies of suspected methanol poisoning in Laos    Katy Perry v Katie Perry: Singer wins right to use name in Australia    Trump picks Pam Bondi as attorney general after Matt Gaetz withdraws    Al-Jasser: Saudi Arabia to expand rail network to over 8,000 km    OMODA&JAECOO: Unstoppable global cumulative sales over 360,000 units    Sitting too much linked to heart disease –– even if you work out    Denmark's Victoria Kjær Theilvig wins Miss Universe 2024    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



South Africa, Zimbabwe sign bilateral investment protection bill
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 27 - 11 - 2009

Zimbabwe and neighbouring South Africa, Africa"s
most powerful economy, together signed an agreement in Harare to
protect investments in each other"s country, in a bid to open the
stricken Zimbabwean economy to desperately needed foreign business, according to dpa.
The agreement was signed by South African Trade Minister Rob
Davies, and Zimbabwean Economic Planning Minister Elton Mangoma. Over
80 senior businesspeople from South Africa, mostly in the mining and
minerals sector, attended the function.
The Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement
(BIPPA) guarantees investors freedom from expropriation in the
other"s country, as well as the right to seek redress in
international tribunals.
"Everybody now seems to appreciate that this is a positive
agreement which provides a level of investor confidence that did not
exist before," said Davies. "There will be recourse to a whole range
of mechanisms in the event of a dispute."
Observers say however that major uncertainties prevail over the
sincerity of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe in honouring the
agreement after a decade of Zimbabwe"s flouting domestic and
international agreements, which has seen an almost total capital
flight.
The agreement also faces severe difficulties over the rights of
South African citizens, who - while attempting to run farms in
Zimbabwe - have been and continue to be driven violently off their
farms due to Mugabe"s revolutionary land reform programme.
The agreement is seen as a major advance for the nine-month power-
sharing government between Mugabe, and pro-democracy Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai, whose economic policies immediately after the
inauguration of the new government ended astronomical inflation and
stabilized the monetary system by introducing US dollars as the
national currency.
"Zimbabwe was departing from the past, and (we) do not want to be
judged by what previous governments have done," Mangoma said. "There
have been arguments that Zimbabwe cannot be trusted because it cannot
even sign an agreement with its neighbour. That argument falls away.
This BIPPA is signifying to the world that Zimbabwe is open and ready
for trade."
Observers warn however that approaches by South African investors
are likely to be highly tentative because of Mugabe"s record.
At a United Nations conference on Monday last week, Mugabe told
businessmen that they would be forced by a new law to ensure that a
51-per-cent controlling interest of any new foreign investment over
500,000 US dollars would have to be taken up by black Zimbabweans.
Five days later, government ministers in Harare tried to soften
Mugabe"s threat by saying that the government would be flexible in
its application of the law.
As the BIPPA deal was being signed Friday, the Commercial Farmers
Union reported that four white farming families were being driven off
their farms by mobs in the Chegutu area 100 kilometres west of
Harare.
The CFU says not one farmer has been fully compensated for being
dispossessed since the seizure of farms began in 2000, despite legal
obligations to do so.
The tribunal of the 15-nation regional bloc Southern African
Development Community (SADC) declared a year ago that Mugabe"s
seizure of 4,000 white-owned farms was racist, illegal and violated
constitutional property rights.
Zimbabwe is a signatory to the agreement establishing the SADC
tribunal but the government declared it would not be bound by it.


Clic here to read the story from its source.