The Zimbabwean government would push for the implementation of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) protocol for free movement of persons in the region this month to help integrate economies, boost tourism and ensure equitable utilization of resources, local press reported on Friday.

The battle to facilitate free movement in the southern African region using a universal visa has been on for the past 15 years as there was resistance by some countries in the 14-member regional trade bloc, the report said.

Elasto Mugwadi, the chief immigration officer, was quoted as saying a meeting to discuss the issue was scheduled for Botswana soon, following the meeting on Inter State Defense and Security in South Africa a few weeks ago.

"We thought all countries in our region had seen the need to closely cooperate and would take the opportunity at hand to have the protocol recommended by the ministers from the region who were present for the protocol's immediate approval by various heads of state in South Africa, he said.

He said it would not be true for the region to say there is free trade when people have no freedom of movement.

There were so many genuine businessmen who would want to do business in the countries in the region, but because of stringent visa requirements they would rather take their business to other regions.

"We can also not preach cooperation when there is no equitable distribution of resources. For instance, it would be odd to see the countries in the SADC region importing coal from Brazil when there is plenty in Zimbabwe or to see professionals flocking to as far as United Kingdom when they can work in either Zambia or Tanzania," he said.

He said creating conducive travel and resident conditions that attract professionals to migrate within the region makes it easy to control the number of professionals a country may lose or benefit from.

"Joint efforts would improve our ability to deal with criminal elements such as human trafficking, illicit trade in drugs, acts of terrorism and money laundering," said Mugwadi.

The implementation of the protocol would also ensure a certain provision of harmonization of laws to also make it not cumbersome for tourists to travel in the region, he said.

Source: Xinhua