Dear Editor,IT is important for a Republican President to undertake trips to foreign countries provided such trips are substantially beneficial to Zambia. Kindly note my use of the term “substantially beneficial” as opposed to just beneficial. The question then becomes; when does a presidential foreign trip become substantially beneficial to Zambia? Well, from my standpoint, it is when the benefits of undertaking such a trip outweigh the costs. The costs of a foreign trip include the monetary cost of transportation, accommodation, food, allowances for the entourage, etcetera as well as the opportunity cost of travelling abroad instead of attending to domestic matters. The benefits of a presidential foreign trip in my view include the tangible and the intangible. Tangible benefits are those which can be seen and measured, whereas intangible benefits are those that cannot be seen or measured, and whose existence is a matter of conjecture. Examples of tangible benefits include bilateral trade agreement with other countries whereby […]
ABOUT PRESIDENTIAL FOREIGN TRIPS
