 You may kindly take a seat. By the name of the President of the Republic of Zangia, honorable Madam Ma Horace, Vice President of the United States of America, Cabinet Ministers President of both countries, members of the press distinguished by the guests of the gentleman. Welcome to the press conference being held here at State House this afternoon. And to begin the process, I'll now have the Senior Honour, the President of the Republic of Zangia, to deliver his remarks. Mr. President, sir. Thank you very much. My duty really is simple this afternoon. To warmly welcome Vice President Harris to State House, of course, a delegation to State House, to Zangia. And for many of us Zambians, it's receiving somewhat a daughter of our own country, someone who spent time here. And yes, so welcome, truly welcome Vice President Harris and your team. We have covered a couple of things inside there and I will not take too much time, but simply to indicate how strong and how proud we feel about our relationship, the U.S.-Zangia relationship. Anchored on a number of common values, beliefs, constitutionalism, rule of law, protection of human base, our own citizens, global citizens. So they can feel safe as they go about doing their normal business in their homes, in their workplaces and elsewhere. We value that. We also value the bilateral relationship that we had. The first part I indicated is more global democratic family, global democratic family, but our bilateral relations, going very well, long history of friendship, sees our independence. And obviously, by return to the democratic values, Vice President Harris, on behalf of the people of Zambia, I want to express how delighted we are to have been chosen to co-chair the Second Summit for Democracy. It closed yesterday and we want to say thank you to President Biden, yourself, the American government, and these people. I know that South Korea feels the same. The Netherlands feels the same. Costa Rica feels the same. So thank you for that opportunity. And I believe we utilize that opportunity well during the Summit. Zambia has a clear focus on what we want to do. We're elected on the platform of delivering a functioning economy. Reconstructing the economy is our critical agenda because we know when we do that we'll be able to take care of the needs of our people. Education for the young, health service delivery for our people, looking after the old, looking after those that live with disabilities, their list goes on. So priority for us, Vice President Harris, as a country now, is to rebuild our economy. In their state's macro stability, the environment that will allow us to support increased investment, trade, and the like. What is keeping us down for now, Vice President, is the debt overhand. We carry a debt burden that really is making it difficult for us to continue with our restructuring process of the economy. And it's actually beginning to negate on the gains we've already made, such as in the foreign exchange market. And the earlier we resolve this matter, the better. And we ask for your support, as always, and the support of others to deal with it. And we know when we unlock the debt, more investments will come. We know that when more investments come, we'll create jobs for our young people. As an African country, a number of our people population is young, and we have to take care of them. Not just jobs, but business opportunities as well. So we are keen to invest in our people's skills, keen to invest in technology. To share with you your advances in technology is something that will place a premium because it will help, as you said inside, equalize things. The technology platform that delivers for our economies, for our people, take us where we want to go, together with other companies. But we want to assure you that we will continue to upholding the principles of good governance, fighting corruption, equipped as treatment of all our people. It's very important. And we're happy to fly the flag on our continent of being a democratic country, by choice, not by persuasion, by America or by anyone. Our own choice, because we came from a background that did not deliver for us, a system that did not deliver for us. So you can be sure that we will, of course, encourage cooperation. But before you persuade us, we'll be running the road of democracy, because we believe in that. We're very pleased to know that your own priorities, your own support, historical support to us as a people, American people to Zambian people, is well appreciated. You've made announcements in a number of areas. You will do that in other areas. I think that's your forte. I will simply say, we appreciate that historical support and ongoing support in many areas, commercial development, investment in areas of accountability, stability, which are essential ingredients to the economic growth agenda. I wish to say once more, welcome home. And please, take some rest after today's session. You've been on a marathon tour of Africa. Who is the last leg? So it means a lot of your energy was sucked in in Ghana, in Tanzania, but we want your time. But we still care for your health. Thank you very much. Thank you. It was my honor to host you at the White House in 2021. And then to see you again at the US Africa Leader Summit in Washington, DC, last December. And it is wonderful to be in Zambia and to be back in Zambia. And I thank all here for the very valuable significance for me, as many of you know, and for my family. As you know, I'm visiting as a young girl when my grandfather worked here. My grandfather was a civil servant in India. And in 1966, shortly after Zambia's independence, he came to the Saffa to serve as a director of relief measures and refugees. That was his title. He served as an advisor to Zambia's first president, Kenneth Gowanda. And he was an expert on refugee resettlement. I remember my time here fondly. I was a child, so it is the memory of a child. But I remember being here and just how it felt. And the warmth and the excitement that was present. And in fact, I was talking with my aunt recently. And she was reminding me of the relationships that she made when she was working at, then it was called the Saffa Central Hospital. When she was working there with the physicians there. So from my family and from all of us, we extend our greetings and hello to everyone here. There are strong people-to-people ties as well between the United States, the people of the United States, and the people of Zambia. One may recall that Kenneth Gowanda visited the United States in 1960 and met with Martin Luther King, Jr. to discuss peaceful forms of protest. He again visited the United States in 1961 to meet with President John Kennedy in the Oval Office. The late great congressman, John Lewis, visited Lusaka to attend the Independence Celebration in 1964. And all that to say there is a long and enduring history of the relationship with Zambia. And it reinforces what you and I have continued to discuss during our time together, which is our collective commitment to principles of freedom, justice, and democracy. And our shared history then is an underpinning of the relationship that we have today. Today, the President and I had a discussion on a number of important issues. We discussed, for example, as the President have mentioned, our shared commitment to democracy. I want to thank the President publicly for co-hosting the summit for democracy yesterday. You too must be exhausted. Hosting that summit and then hosting our delegation. And I thank you. But the summit was extraordinary in the work that you, as a leader of it, did to convene leaders to advance our collective efforts, to strengthen democratic institutions, to protect human rights, to support free and fair elections, and to accelerate the fight against corruption. Zambia has indeed embarked on an ambitious democratic reform agenda under your leadership, Mr. President. And as I have said previously on this trip, democracy and good governance around the world is a priority for the United States. And we will always stand with those who are fighting for those principles. To that end, I am pleased to announce more than $16 million for new programs in Zambia, including a focus on anti-corruption and other reform efforts. Mr. President, thank you. You and I have had extensive conversations about the economy. And the work that you have done, and I congratulate on behalf of being a partner with you and just observing what you have done as a leader and as president, to put real measures in place to strengthen the economy in Zambia. And the work that you have done is about also implementing an economic reform agenda. We will remain a strong partner to build long-term economic growth and boost investment in Zambia. And we will continue to advocate for a speedy finalization of Zambia's debt treatment and the restructuring. And we have talked extensively about that. Our administration believes the international community needs to help countries such as Zambia regain their footing. So I will reiterate a call that we have made now many times for all bilateral official creditors to provide a meaningful debt reduction for Zambia. At the same time, we must focus forward and on long-term growth. As I've said throughout my trip, I believe that the innovation that is taking place across this continent will opportunities for the entire world. I am working during this trip to drive more private sector investment to Zambia and to the continent to accelerate the innovation and entrepreneurship that is already underway. To strengthen business ties, I am pleased to announce that the United States and Zambia will sign a commercial development MOU, a Memorandum of Understanding, which will help to develop and implement commercial projects and increase the flow of goods and services between our nations. The President and I also discussed extensively the issue of the climate crisis. And I thank you, Mr. President, for your leadership there as well. You have begun innovative public-private partnerships to focus on protecting forests and to protect and rewild landscapes, which will, of course, increase biodiversity and sequester carbon. The United States is committed to these types of innovative solutions to support climate adaptation, mitigation, and resilience. In fact, tomorrow I will visit a farm outside of Lusata to announce $7 billion in public-private sector investments for this continent. And I will then end my comments where I began. My family's time in Lusata in the 1960s. When I talk to my family about their memories, it is clear about the excitement that existed here in Lusata. At best, beginning of that era. And I remain optimistic, inspired by your leadership and the work of your administration. Because what is happening here on the ground, Mr. President, is truly about understanding the potential and seeing what is possible and working to achieve that. So again, I thank you for the warm welcome. It was good to be with you again. Thank you. Mr. President, we'll now take a few questions from members of the press who are in attendance. I would ask those who ask questions to step to this microphone. We'll first start with Annie Linsky of the Wall Street Journal. Mr. Vice President, you've spoken about democracy and the rule of law at every stop in Africa. Given that, what is your comment on former President Donald Trump's indictment and are you worried that his calls for protest could lead to a recurrence of the violence similar to that of January 6th? And the Wall Street Journal reporter has been detained in Russia. Do you have any update on his status and what is your reaction to Vladimir Putin's decision to detain him? And for President Kisholima, what does Trump's indictment tell you about the example that the United States sets in terms of rule of law? I'm going to comment on an ongoing permanent, but I will say as it relates to the American citizen that has been detained by the government of Russia, we are deeply concerned. And I will state in unequivocal terms that we will not tolerate and condemn, in fact, repression of dark journalists and that we are absolutely concerned about any attempt to in any way stifle freedom of the press. The indictment of President Trump, that means the rule of law are adding. Let's remove names from your question. Let's put what we decided we would do to govern ourselves in an orderly manner. First, our constitution, better of law. Then, secondary laws, other regulations create a platform or framework around which we agreed, either as Americans or as Ambians, to govern ourselves and so to live within those confines. And when there's transgression against law, it does not matter who is involved. I think that is what the rule of law means. So I take out the name, I put in place of the name what we citizens of our countries, citizens of the global community, must do as we exercise our rights and freedoms, where our rights and freedoms end, other people's rights and freedoms. This is universal, certainly for Zangir. This is the way it is. And here, Vice President, we have a scenario now when we fight against corruption, which has taken away resources from children and the Sikh. Sometimes names are thrown into it and perceptions are created that are totally inappropriate because transgressions against the law, if you take what belongs to the public, do you ever find it at all? And the name doesn't matter. That is my answer. Thank you. I will now take a question from the Zambian media. Can I have that gentleman there please come forward? My name is Masaozo Mukwaiyaya from the Zambian National Broadcasting Corporation. And Vice President, I want to find out, I know you've touched on the issue of debt, but I want to find out what immediate interventions are valid for the United States of America to help Zambian major out of this situation, which is troubling the economy. Is probably the main focus of my trip to the continent, including culminating the trip here in Lusaka and Zambia, which is to work with leaders such as the President here as a partner to work together on the goal of strengthening democracies, understanding that undergirding, a lot of that has to be to meet the everyday needs of the people, much less the needs of their aspiration and ambitions. When I look at what's happening on the continent of Africa as a general matter, I'm very excited. By 2050, one in four people occupying Mother Earth will be right here on this continent. There's incredible opportunity, just on those demographics alone, much less, what we are seeing in terms of the innovation and ingenuity that is coming from this continent to the benefit of the entire world. So having worked with the President on a number of issues, the President of Zambia, including our mutual goal to strengthen democracies and democratic principles, understanding that when democracies are intact, the people benefit. I am here to then do the work that we can through, for example, public-private partnerships to bring the kind of U.S. dollars and resources that I have mentioned, such as the $7 billion, to bear for the continent on what we can do to spur innovation, to invest in talent, and again, to the benefit not only of the people. What is the United States doing specifically to push China? And what is the United States' responsibility here given that some of that is hold by companies like BlackRock in the United States? And for President Hichelma, China's influence in Africa is very controversial in Washington. Do you consider China's role in the continent a constructive one? And what would the United States do to play a more constructive role here as well? So on your first point, I'll reiterate the point I made earlier. We are continuing to reiterate our call for all bilateral official predators to provide meaningful debt reduction to Zambia. And that includes the calls that we are making in the context of the IMF, that that be done. But let me be clear, our presidency is not about China. It's about an independent understanding of the intertwined histories of our nations and our mutual commitment to democratic principles and a recognition and understanding of what it means to engage in smart investments and the potential for the future of the entire globe. I will reiterate, when we look at the talent, the innovation, the ingenuity that is taking place in countries like Zambia, when we look at the partnerships that we've already embarked on, many of which are public-private partnerships, private investment, spurred or brought together by what we can do as the United States government. We're seeing incredible return on the investment, both in terms of the investment in human capacity as well as the investment of resources. So the work we are doing here is the work that we believe and is designed to benefit the people, to strengthen communities, to uplift communities. And we are going to continue to do that work, understanding that the relationships that we have between the United States and Zambia is a relationship again based on shared ideals and principles that are always going to be designed to strengthen prosperity and security. Thank you, Vice President. Let me just tag on to what she's already said. China's influence on Africa, you would, in certain ways, in the context of the U.S., what could the U.S. do to help Africa with Zambia this way? Let me just step aside a little bit and say things must not be seen that way. Things must not be seen that way. I totally agree with the Vice President that we're here to foster the U.S.-Zambia relationship. But there's a context in the sense that that relationship exists in the operating environment where other countries also exist. So the contextualization that if the U.S. and Zambia share lots in common, strong bilateral relationship, historical relationship, then they are doing things against China. It's actually wrong, completely wrong. So I have said before, when I'm in Washington, I'm not against Beijing. Equally, when I'm in Beijing, I'm not against Washington. We have a globe we share. We have a planet we share. Earth. For us in Africa, we have our continent. It is easy to say when the President of Zambia is visiting Pretoria in South Africa, he's against Abuja in Nigeria. That's the logic, not quite. What we expect of American China as the two leading economists, number one, USA, number two, China, is to help us keep our world safe for everybody. Keep peace stability, which would allow us to focus, for example, like us on our economic reconstruction agenda. And by the way, as Zambia, to a logic that we are responsible for the downgrade of our economy, the way we transacted, the way we related with people. That's why we since taking office, we preset our relationship with the global community, the League of Nations. I'm talking about the civilized League of Nations. So essentially, from now, we're expecting the U.S. as we've done in our conversations to support us on resolving this debt over hand for which, as a country, we're responsible, we didn't manage our affairs properly. We must accept it. Equally, we are asking, when we meet China, we are asking them to assist us resolve our debt, and free resources to where they should go, apply the free resources where they should go. So I am saying that the U.S. and us about relationship, they have their relationship with China. We have our relationship with the U.S. We have our relationship with China. But none of these relationships were about working against someone or a group of countries. I think that's what will give our world safer, peaceful, secure. But let me be direct. I do believe that the U.S. and China are engaging almost daily because of who they are, these two big countries. And our request to them is to keep our world safe, peaceful, order. For us, we would like to advance our democratic relationship with the Americans. And with others. I must say, and I said it yesterday in public domain, we believe that the democratic framework will allow us to advance our gender economic position. We came from a one-part state dictatorship. We didn't like it. Didn't wait for us. So we want to stay this course. But we must not always see each other when we meet with the vice president. Then we are plotting again in summer. We are not. Thank you. We are going to have the last person coming from the Zambian media. And I say, okay, let's have a lady for a change. You must be careful if the vice president who is a lady. My sincere apology. They have the time. My name is Stephanie Konda from Moewanju Media. My question is for the vice president. Madam vice president, what mechanisms are in place for the Zambian goods to be exported into the U.S. market? We have been, that is a lot of the work that we are doing with the collaboration and the MOU that we are announcing today around the ability to have these kinds, to create a framework around the commercial relationships that we have. And so that is the work that we will continue to do. But I will say that in addition to the commercial development MOU, which is about the increase of the flow of goods and services between our nations, there is additional work that we are attending to do, which is about, for example, the work that I'm going to do tomorrow when I visit the farm and highlight the mutual concern that we have in addressing the climate crisis and thinking about how we can bring new technologies and innovative approaches to industries such as the agricultural industry. We intend to do the work of not only investing in the innovation that is taking there, we refer to it as smart agriculture, some refer to it as agritech, the application of technology to thinking about satellite technology, for example, and how that gives us data and information that we can give to farmers to give them a better idea of what the seasons might bring so they can make smart decisions about what type of crops to plant. This is the work that we are doing together as well, understanding that we can share and exchange ideas that will be to our mutual benefit. So we are doing that work, and we are also doing the work, and I will always do the work of uplifting the importance of gender equality, and making sure that, for example, that we are paying attention to the needs of women and economic empowerment of women. I do strongly believe, I think most of us would agree, that when you lift up the economic status of women, you lift up the economic status of families and all of society's benefits, and so paying attention to those issues is part of an economic agenda, as well as anything else. Mr. President, wonderful Vice President of the United States of America, we have now come to the end of the press conference. I now kindly ask our friends to remove the podium so we have the last photo and they can allow the President and the Vice President to exit. Thank you very much for your attention. Thank you. Now rise as we allow the President and the Vice President.