The 37th edition of the Africa Travel Association (ATA) conference will officially kick off this Friday in the resort town of Victoria Falls.

Delegates from as far as the US, Israel and African countries such as Angola, Togo and South Africa, among others, are already in the resort town ahead of the conference, which is expected to among other things discuss issues of how African countries can assist each other in expanding the tourism sector..

Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) Destination Marketing Manager, Ms Tesa Chikaponya revealed that the event has been oversubscribed with almost 550 delegates having confirmed participation.

The Zimbabwe Cabinet has approved a US$4,5 billion Education Medium-Term Plan, which will see the construction of 750 new secondary schools and refurbishment of over 24 000 classrooms by 2015, an official has said.

In a statement posted on his website, Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart, said Cabinet unanimously approved the five-year education plan, which should have been implemented from 2010, on Tuesday.

Minister Coltart said the document was a product of three years of consultation within Zimbabwe and was designed to fully stabilise the education sector.
“The plan was unanimously endorsed by Cabinet and now enjoys the support from all three parties in the inclusive government,” he said.
“This is important because children’s interests should never be subjected to partisan interests. I can safely say that irrespective of whichever party wins the next elections, the plan will continue to be implemented,” he said.

Statement by the spokesperson of the EU High Representative Catherine Ashton (pictured) on HR/VP consultations with Zimbabwe reengagement team The spokesperson of Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the Commission, issued the following statement today:

“The meeting between HR/VP Ashton and the Zimbabwe ministerial re-engagement team today was a constructive step in the process in which the EU is committed to re-engagement.

It was an opportunity to deepen the dialogue with Zimbabwe, enhance our common understanding and help build trust and confidence on both sides.

The expansion of the Victoria Falls District Hospital and its Interna­tional Airport is underway as the resort town faces a major facelift ahead of the United Nations

World Tourism Organisation General Assembly next year. However, residents and local com­panies have expressed disappoint­ment that they have been overlooked in the construction works.

The hospital will be built by a group of companies from Bulawayo. Government has pumped in US$6 million towards the expansion works. The companies have already started putting their equipment on site.

TRADE between Zimbabwe and China doubled to US$800 million in the last two years as ties between the two countries continue to strengthen, outgoing Chinese Ambassador to Xin Shunkang (pictured) said on Thursday.

Speaking at a public lecture organized by the Southern African Research and Documentation Centre, Xin said his tenure of nearly three years in Zimbabwe saw the two countries consolidating their economic, political and social ties.

“Bilateral trade has increased from US$400 million to US$800 million during my tenure,” he said while presenting a paper on “Outlook of China’s economy and Sino- Zimbabwe relations”.

AIR Zimbabwe resumed domestic flights Wednesday after stopping operations in January due to a host of problems that included the seizure of planes by restive creditors as well as wage disputes with workers.

The airline temporarily returned to the air last week with flights on the Harare, Bulawayo and Victoria Falls route to service the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF), but management said limited domestic services would now continue.

“We will be flying three times a week; that is Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays,” chief executive said Innocent Mavhunga said.
“We will be flying three times between Harare, Bulawayo and Victoria Falls. We will gradually increase flights as the market picks up.”