By Byron Mutingwende
The National Transport Drivers Association (NTDA) in partnership with Tehillar Christian Network are leaving no stone unturned in their endeavour to capture the participation of people in Diaspora in nation building.
Speaking at the “Arise and Build” conference that was held in Harare from 7 to 9 March 2019 organised by United Kingdom-based Maximum Impact Diaspora, Mrs Jotina Matanhire, the Founding President of the NTDA said there was need to involve various stakeholders in business in order to promote cross-cultural exchange in business development among Zimbabwe and people in the diaspora.
“Zimbabwe is on the path to recovery under the Second Republic led by President Emmerson Mnangagwa. To get the full participation of all stakeholders, it is imperative that we as business people reach out to Zimbabweans in the diaspora to contribute to nation building.
“This is in line with the “Zimbabwe is open for business” which President Mnangagwa repeatedly calls for. This means we need people with expertise in religion, construction, management, engineering and other important fields. We will do this in support of government programmes and initiatives,” Mrs Matanhire said.
During the conference, Reverend Sam Malunga, the founder of the Tehillar Christian Network called upon the church and its followers to exploit opportunities available through the diaspora cross-cultural exchange programmes in pursuit of government developmental programmes.
“Religion and culture move hand in glove. To attract investors, we need a culture of peace and tolerance among our people since peace promotes development. Zimbabwe can only be open for business when the people respect each other’s cultural diversity and religions while working together in the promotion of development as articulated by His Excellence President Mnangagwa,” Reverend Malunga said.