Socialist party demands deep probe of $72 billion Vietnamese investment pledge

Socialist party demands deep probe of $72 billion Vietnamese investment pledge,

Socialist Party (SP) Chairperson for Research, Lawrence Mwelwa, says the recent announcement of a US$72 billion investment pledge from a Vietnamese investor in Zambia’s agricultural sector needs scrutiny.

In statement on Thursday, Mwelwa said the massive pledge raised serious red flags that the government must address with the utmost caution and scrutiny.

“Firstly, the sheer scale of the proposed investment of $72 billion over 20 years is simply staggering, even for an economic powerhouse like Vietnam. To put this in perspective, Vietnam’s entire Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2022 was estimated at around US$366 billion,” he said.

Mwelwa, an academic, further queried a single Vietnamese investor would realistically commit nearly a fifth of their country’s entire economic output to a project in Zambia?

“Secondly, the lack of information on the investor’s background and track record is highly concerning. While the company, “Viet-Zam Diversified Development Company Limited,” is said to be registered in Zambia, its history, financial strength and proven ability to execute projects of this magnitude are conspicuously absent,” he argued.

Mwelwa pointed out that relying on a pledge from an unknown entity with no proven track record was a recipe for disappointment, if not outright disaster.