India and Zimbabwe on Wednesday agreed to accelerate the approval of a decade old pact between the two countries that aims at boosting bilateral investments.

According to an official release, the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPA), which was signed in February 1999, has not come into force yet. Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jyotiraditya Scindia, who is on a visit to Africa stressed upon the need to strengthen the investment and trade ties between the two nations.

During his talks with Zimbabwe's industry Minister W Nucbe, Scindia said there was huge scope to significantly diversify bilateral trade, which stood at paltry 125 million US dollars in 2010-11. Mr.Scindia offered India's full support to Zimbabwe in areas like telecom, highways and railways and extend technical assistance in strengthening rail tracks, logistics and aviation sectors. He said, a resurgent Indian economy has much to offer Zimbabwe in terms of investments, technology, skills, products and services in diverse economic and social streams.