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Zimbabwe imports 90 per cent of pharmaceutical products from India, the African country's Health and Child Care Minister Dr Douglas Mombeshora said on Tuesday. 

Speaking to IANS at the sidelines of the 19th CII India-Africa Business Conclave, Dr Mombeshora noted that he is looking for partnerships to help start "production in Zimbabwe".

"Almost 90 per cent of our pharmaceutical products come from India, but we would want to see if we can have partnerships where production can be brought to Zimbabwe, rather than having all these products being manufactured so far away," he said.

Manufacturing the products in Zimbabwe would also help bring the price of "those products down, and the benefit more of our population".

At the same time, it will benefit the manufacturer "because it will be a bigger market" opportunity, as the market will also cater to neighbouring countries as Zimbabwe is centrally located, he said.

"It is thus a win-win situation for both India and Zimbabwe," Dr Mombeshora said.

The Minister also said that the country is also looking for partnerships with India on telemedicine. "We have started already building our e-health platform, but we want to upscale it to levels where we can have telemedicine and also be able to share diagnosis and treatment with our counterparts, specialists who are here in India," he said.

Dr Mombeshora said this may benefit a lot of patients who travel to India, seeking specialists for their healthcare needs.

"We realise that there are quite a lot of specialists in India. We have a lot of patients who are coming all the way from Zimbabwe to seek medical treatment in India. But if we develop our telemedicine, we will be able to get some of those treatments," he noted.

Dr Mombeshora is part of the delegation led by Zimbabwe's Vice President C.G.D.N. Chiwenga visiting India to participate in the Conclave. The delegation reached India on Monday.

Besides pharmaceutical products, the Minister said: "We are also seeing a lot of agricultural equipment coming from India."

"So this conclave helps us open more avenues in terms of accessing those equipment and also interacting with producers," he said.

He added that the country is also looking to "upgrade" its e-commerce sector. “There is quite a lot that we see coming. coming out of this conclave. Yes, on the e-commerce, I think we are moving with the world," the Minister said.