HARARE, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government is pledging continuous support for Zimbabwe's aviation industry and capacity development, a Chinese diplomat said on Friday.
Speaking at a Bilateral Training Seminar on aviation held in Harare, Chen Ning, the economic and commercial counselor at the Chinese Embassy, emphasized that the Chinese government will actively assist Zimbabwe in its efforts to restore the development of the country's civil aviation industry.
"We will promote Chinese airlines to open direct links to Zimbabwe, continue to deepen bilateral aviation cooperation between China and Zimbabwe, provide human resources training in the field of civil aviation for Zimbabwe," he said.
"From the 1990s to the present, the Chinese government has financed more than 4,900 Zimbabwean officers and specialists to attend seminars and training courses in China," Chen said.
Zimbabwe's minister of transport and infrastructure development Joel Biggie Matiza expressed gratitude to the Chinese government for the continuous support, notably in the civil aviation industry and to the ministry.
"My ministry recognizes that aviation has become a significant contributor to employment and foreign currency in our economy. In this regard, we have embarked on programs to develop our aviation industry to world class standards. We have been able to make great strides in this endeavor partly due to the support provided by China," Matiza said.
In an effort to support Zimbabwe's aviation sector, the Chinese government sponsored 25 Zimbabweans to attend a three-week training workshop in the coastal city Qingdao in China.
The participants of the training workshop were drawn from the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe and the national airline, Air Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe's aviation industry has been in decline over the past two decades following the southern African country's economic challenges.
Flights into the country had declined considerably since the beginning of the millennium largely due to the volatile economic landscape, which resulted in the majority of international airlines pulling out of Zimbabwe.
