HARARE, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Zimbabwean and South African governments have signed the much-awaited Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPPA) that is set to unlock investment inflows into both countries.

Economic Planning and Investment Promotion Minister Elton Mangoma signed the agreement on Friday on behalf of Zimbabwe while South Africa's Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies signed on behalf of his country, according to Saturday's The Herald.

The agreement, which comes after almost five years of negotiations, will now be presented to the parliaments of both countries for ratification before it comes into force.

There have been some attempts by a group of some South African farmers, who have wanted to secure an order to have the signing deferred on the basis that the agreement should include issues on security of tenure on land.

However, Dr Davies said the issue had been settled out of court after it was discovered that there was no basis for applying for such an order and that the benefits of signing the BIPPA to most of the South African businesses far outweighed the interest of the minority business grouping.

Speaking soon after the signing ceremony, Zimbabwe Minister Mangoma paid tribute to all the people who had worked to ensure that the agreement was signed.

Minister Mangoma said the focus is now on increasing trade volumes with South Africa to the levels of 10 years ago as well also king at new ways of doing business.

He said that although South Africa and Zimbabwe signed the BIPPA, the implications of the event are far-reaching and extended beyond the border of the two countries.

Dr Davies said South Africa is committed to seeing the implementation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) and that the signing of the BIPPA is one of the ways in which his country is working to ensure economic recovery in Zimbabwe as spelt out in the GPA.

The estimated value of South African businesses operating in Zimbabwe in 2003 was 619 million U.S. dollars while that of Zimbabwean businesses operating in South Africa was 154 million U.S. dollars.

He said South Africa is also eager to see Zimbabwe's economy ticking again as the influx of refugees from the region, including Zimbabwe, was putting pressure in their job market where menial jobs are scarce, and South African employers are electing to employ foreigners ahead of locals.