Look East policy helping crisis-hit Zimbabwe

Veeramalla Anjaiah, The Jakarta Post/Harare

During our recent visit to Harare, we -- a small group of Indonesian journalists -- discovered something amazing at Singapore's Changi international airport. For all of us, it was our first trip to Africa. We were waiting at the prescribed gate to board an Air Zimbabwe flight. However, there were no Zimbabwean passengers -- black or white -- at the gate just half an hour before departure.

"Are we waiting at the right gate?' shouted one of our group while looking at the passengers who were also waiting there.

To our dismay, around 70 percent of the passengers on our plane were not Zimbabweans but rather Chinese, mostly young professionals and entrepreneurs.

What were these Chinese going to do in Zimbabwe, a country facing a severe economic crisis due to a prolonged drought, food shortages, hyperinflation, foreign currency and fuel shortages?

These young people are, in fact, the torch bearers of the fastest growing Chinese business empire in Africa.

Zimbabwe, which is under attack from its former colonial master Britain and its ally the U.S. over controversial land reforms and human rights, has adopted a Look East policy.

U.S. Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice has labeled Zimbabwe an outpost of tyranny, along with North Korea and Iran.

"It's true that we have adopted a Look East Policy. But we were not the only ones that were looking East. We were aware that the developed countries were started looking east before us, Zimbabwean President Robert Gabriel Mugabe told the Indonesian journalists in an interview recently in Harare.

With its huge population, abundant natural resources and impressive economic growth, Asia is fast becoming a new global economic hub as well as a strategic center of gravity in international politics.

Though the Look East policy was primarily designed to reduce the impact of the Western governments' onslaught on Zimbabwe, Mugabe says it also has another goal.

"It was not that we were not looking east before. We have good relations with several Asian countries, like Indonesia. Zimbabwe is a small country. But small as we are, we are ambitious. We want to develop our country and so we are looking at the east and getting the benefits," Mugabe said.

For Mugabe -- a veteran freedom fighter -- and his 13 million people, the presence of the Chinese in Zimbabwe is a blessing in disguise, especially at a time when they are undergoing hardship.

It seems Mugabe's Look East policy is working to a certain extent. Gradually, Asian countries are proving themselves capable of serving as alternatives to the rich Western nations in countries like Zimbabwe.

Though the exact value of Chinese investments in Zimbabwe is not available, China has already invested heavily in mining, telecommunications, power generation and housing projects. Cheap Chinese goods, ranging from toys to real aircraft, are flooding into Zimbabwe.

The bilateral trade between Indonesia, the biggest economy in Southeast Asia, and Zimbabwe increased sixfold last year compared to the previous year.

In 2004, the trade volume between the two countries jumped to US$34.07 million from a mere $5.26 million in 2003. The balance of trade was in favor of Zimbabwe.

Japan, India, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Iran also have businesses in Zimbabwe.

"Zimbabwe has shown an immense activism in improving its relations with Asian countries. Our Look East policy is helping us at a difficult time," Edward Chiradza, a university student from Harare, told The Jakarta Post.

In another effort to benefit from the Look East policy, Zimbabwe wants to build a oil refinery with the help of Iran, one of the world's major oil producers -- to cut surging fuel prices.

Mugabe emphasized that he wants partnership based on equity, equality and reciprocity, and not of the colonial type where people became mere workers.

"We want to have clean partnerships, not the dirty ones we have at the moment," Mugabe said recently.

With his Look East policy as the main arrow in his quiver, Mugabe is struggling to prove that he can live without the Western world.