On the sidelines of the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28), President Hakainde Hichilema engaged in fruitful bilateral discussions with President Emmanuel Macron of France and His Excellency Ding Xuexiang, the Executive Vice Premier of the People’s Republic of China.
The talks with President Macron focused on matters of mutual interest affecting both Zambia and France. The leaders, representing nations that enjoy longstanding and cordial relations, discussed avenues for further cooperation in various areas of development and technical assistance. President Hichilema expressed gratitude to President Macron and the French people for their continued support and underscored the importance of nurturing the growing ties between the two nations.
“We appreciate the support that France has provided to Zambia over the years, and we look forward to strengthening our partnership for the benefit of our countries and peoples,” President Hichilema stated.
President Hichilema acknowledged the historical growth in relations between Zambia and France and highlighted the commitment to fostering increased collaboration on shared interests.
In a separate bilateral meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, President Hichilema extended gratitude to His Excellency Xi Jinping, the President of the People’s Republic of China, for the warm welcome extended during his recent State Visit to China. President Hichilema conveyed his best wishes for the continued prosperity of China and its people.
During the talks, the leaders emphasized the enduring nature of the ‘all-weather friendship’ between Zambia and China, dating back to Zambia’s independence in 1964. The discussions centered on further strengthening this friendship and exploring new avenues for cooperation.
“We are committed to building on the solid foundation of our bilateral relations with China for the benefit of both our nations. The talks with Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang were productive and reflect our mutual desire for continued growth and collaboration,” President Hichilema stated.
As President Hichilema continues his diplomatic engagements at COP28, these bilateral talks underscore Zambia’s commitment to fostering international cooperation and strengthening ties with key global partners. The discussions with President Macron and Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang mark significant steps towards enhancing diplomatic and economic relations for the mutual benefit of Zambia and its partner nations.
65 trips and the economy is the worst performing currency in the world.would they have handled it during covid 19
He is busy licking backsides abroad while economy here is stinging people. Ecl is more of a president than him because ecl is home and addressing challenges we are facing. Excellent press briefing yesterday by president ecl
Well done Presido
@Kaizar “Kanyenga-Nyoko” Zulu: Why did you borrowed US $31 billion that Zambia has no way of paying? What did you with money? Do you realise that it is your fault that the government had to be forced by debtors to remove subsidies from everything. Fu@k you buggers. HH is wrong for not arresting all of you and putting in you jail.
Liars, better president than being drunk with Jameson and siphoning and laundering money through Faith Musonda. Never heard lazy ECL addressing international forum, let alone known as president of Zambia internationally, eeish! glad was out of mother Zambia.
@MunaDekhane: The president is trying to fix the mess they made. They borrowed US $31 billion and looted it, leaving Zambia with a debt it can never pay. They are now vilifying him for trying to talk to the people whose money they borrowed.
engaged in fruitful bilateral discussions??? We the Zambian people would like to see those fruits on our tables. Please also tell us who wrote this story
@Clayson Hamasaka: No the people of Zambia will not see the fruits of the negotiations. The benefits will all be taken by foreigners that Michael Satan and Edgar “Johnathan Mutawire” Lungu borrowed US $ 32.8 billion from and looted. What the negotiations might succeed in doing is to prevent the foreigners from coming to Zambians and taking the food that is already in their mouths out and back to their countries. You people do not understand the severity of our problems. We owe $2.95 billion that is due immediately, right now, in one payment, from the 3 horrible Eurobe bonds Michael Satan took in 2011, 2012 and 2014, before bugger thankfully died… We owe another US $29 billion in debt. Our GDP is only $22.15 billion.
The issue of debt restructuring with private lenders or Eurobond holders will be difficult to achieve.
The PF made a big mistake borrowing high interest money from the open market.
These creditors or bondholders who comprise of pension funds, wealthy individuals etc will not agree to take huge losses like the bilateral lenders.
HH will need to ask the US, UK and France to help compensate the private lenders for the losses.
The PF really messed up Zambia.
@independent: They borrowed those kinds of loans because they have very little lender oversight. These loans are designed to spring debt-traps. The foreigners give you loans they know you will loot, and when you cannot pay them back, they come for everything you have. All the concessions HH has had to make, such as waiving visa fees for foreign countries, relaxing royalty enforcement, ceding the global warming credits to whites in Zambia, are direct consequence of the choke hold the debt trap has our country in. I wish HH had lost the 2020 elections so that PF would have had to deal with this nonsense. Either way, Zambia has no way of paying the US $31 billion PF borrowed and looted
Macron has been kicked out of all French African countries…. for a good reason. Beware.
Clueless HH hanging out with that villain, Macron. What the heck is this about ? West Africa successfully kicked out this colonizer, Macron, now he wants to make new puppets in Southern Africa? And HH is quick to line up. What a shame.
The French were the worst colonizers…Mali,Lebanon,Niger, Syria,Guinea, Vietnam,Chad,Haiti,…all left in turmoil,wars and poverty.
People like Kaisa Amazulu are jealousy of HH. Their lord ECL could not easily rub shoulders with Western leaders due to poor communication skills. He chickened out of interviews by the BBC and other credible media organizations. Shame!
@wan ..Agreed, corrupt lazy Lungu shied away from media interviews. But HH, though articulate, is all talk, no action. The current performance of the economy in Zambia testifies to that. Secondly, he warms up to mzungus way too much. He seems unaware that mzungus have no loyalty to black Africans. They’ll smile and be friendly to you, as long as you’re doing their bidding. Once you stop, they’re done with you and start calling you all kinds of names, and plan to get rid of you. France has been doing that in West Africa, toppling good leaders like Thomas Sankara, replacing them with puppets.
We would like to credit our president with intelligence but it’s shocking to see which side he is on and unfortunately it’s not Zambia or Africa. We have a very selfish president who only thinks about himself and his European masters. The French president is being kicked out of Africa and he is busy trying to entertain him. You fight your neighbours on democracy but flock to entertain the architects of anarchy on the continent of Africa…priceless.