Gandhinagar: The Zimbabwe Ambassador to India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Maldives, Stella Nkomo, along with Zimbabwe’s Deputy Minister of Industry & Commerce, Rajeshkumar Modi and a delegation, paid a courtesy visit to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel in Gandhinagar.
The delegation is visiting Gujarat to participate in the 12th Trade Show of the Saurashtra Vepar Udyog Mandal being held in Ahmedabad from 11th to 15th February.
During the courtesy meeting, discussions were held regarding extending the skill and expertise of Gujarat’s SME sector to support Zimbabwe’s Small and Medium Enterprise sector.
The Ambassador and the Deputy Minister of Zimbabwe stated that Gujarat is not only a manufacturing hub and an auto hub but is also emerging as a hub in the semiconductor sector, and is a leader in the MSME sector as well. Zimbabwe is keen to benefit from this strength.
Chief Minister Shri Bhupendra Patel expressed readiness to explore possibilities of collaboration so that Zimbabwe can benefit from the expertise of Gujarat’s MSMEs, particularly in assessing the potential of their SME sector and advancing skill development and training through cooperation.
The Zimbabwe delegation also showed interest in expanding relations with Gujarat in the education sector in addition to industry and trade. They mentioned that police and security officials from Zimbabwe are enrolled in higher education programmes at NFSU Gandhinagar in subjects such as security and cybercrime security.
Chief Minister Shri Bhupendra Patel extended an invitation to Zimbabwe to participate in the upcoming Vibrant Summit 2027 and the next edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Regional Conference.
The Ambassador and Deputy Minister of Zimbabwe invited entrepreneurs from Gujarat’s MSME sector and state government officials to visit Zimbabwe for the SME exhibition to be held there in March 2026.
The meeting was attended by the Additional Chief Secretary of the Industries Department, Ms. Mamta Verma, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Shri Sanjeev Kumar, Industries Commissioner, Shri Swaroop P, and Additional Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Dr. Vikrant Pandey.
