ZIMBABWE is seeking to establish fully-fledged diplomatic relations with Israel. Our (ND) senior reporter Tinashe Kairiza spoke to Zimbabwe’s honorary consul in Israel Ronny Musan (RM) who spoke about how the two countries, faced with varying difficulties, could co-operate to overcome the difficulties for mutual benefit. Below are excerpts… Tinashe Kairiza ND: Did you get the chance of meeting President Emmerson Mnangagwa, if so, what dominated your discussions? RM: As an Honourable Consul of Zimbabwe in Israel I am honoured to meet His Excellency (HE) President Emmerson Mnangagwa every time I come here to update him and HE Foreign and International Trade minister Sibusiso Moyo on the plans we have promoted in Israel for Zimbabwe. These meetings are very important and to my pleasure they are far beyond polite meetings, because at the end of the day there is work to be done and we must be practical and execute the plans as quickly as possible. ND: Zimbabwe is battling to settle a US$8,2 billion external debt, are you helping in any way to resolve that? RM: The first thing is not to be so shocked by numbers! One should breathe, relax and work on rehabilitation plans instead of going and posting panic. Do you know that before the beginning of COVID-19, the national debt of the State of Israel was US$250 billion? And today it is higher and still Israel’s credit rating is not falling. Why? Because there is proper crisis management. Crisis management is not solved in one day. There is no magic formula in State recovery… it is a process that HE Mnangagwa is leading in promoting important reforms in Zimbabwe that will undoubtedly save it from this “big debt”. And why do I put the word “big debt” in quotes… since Zimbabwe is a natural power! It has natural resources that can buy Israel, it has fertile ground that even if you plant a broom stick you will get a fruit tree, so you have to manage the crisis properly, promote agricultural development and export agricultural products that can feed European countries, give investors the security they need in order for them to invest foreign currency here, to develop the value of the assessment of natural resources in the right way, to avoid smuggling channels and to invest in education and training in the fields of technology and more … ND: Did you discuss, in your engagements, how Zimbabwe can meaningfully benefit from her diamond resources? RM:  The diamonds of Zimbabwe as I have said before are God’s gift. Wherever you step in Zimbabwe you find natural resources. Just dig and find them. The problem in this field as I see it is an incorrect assessment of the value of diamonds whose results enrich a limited number of diamond merchants, who come to buy and sell Zimbabwean products abroad in much higher amounts but leave Zimbabwe’s reserves in deficit. Here too, HE President promotes reforms and plans that at the end of the day he will present data showing that Zimbabwe makes more money from diamonds than in the previous methods used. Diamond dealers can certainly make money, no one