10 July 2009
Maputo — The governments of Mozambique and Brazil are concerned about the low level of trade and investment between the two countries, and are seeking ways to strengthen them.
Brazil exported to Mozambique, in 2008, foodstuffs, shoes, clothing and a variety of equipment, worth about 20 million US dollars, while Mozambican exports to that country were practically insignificant, and this situation is a cause of concern the authorities and business in both countries.
To try and change this situation, a Brazilian delegation of business people, headed by the Executive Secretary of the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Ivan Ramalho, is visiting Mozambique to seek opportunities for investments and partnerships.
The delegation met in Maputo on Thursday with a group of Mozambican business people, with the participation of the Industry and Trade Minister, Antonio Fernando. At that meeting, Fernando said that it is high time to move from promises to concrete actions.
"It is necessary for us to continue attracting Brazilian investments to Mozambique. There are many signed agreements and now it is necessary to advance to concrete actions", he said.
He noted that during the visit of Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva to Mozambique, in October 2008, a commission was created to speed up cooperation between the two countries.
Fernando added that a Mozambican delegation also went to Brazil where it took part in a meeting where a decision was taken to promote negotiations with the private sector to invest in the sectors of transports, communications, rods, dams, among others.
"We hope to see more companies interested in investing in Mozambique. And we also hope that from this meeting we obtain partnerships, because we need to go from speeches to actions', he said.
For his part, Ramalho said that another Brazilian delegation, of more than 100 members, is to visit Mozambique before the end of this year to seek investment opportunities, in Mozambique and in various other southern African countries.
"We want to expand our exports to Africa. In terms of Mozambique, we feel that there are conditions to develop cooperation with advantages for both peoples", he said.
Mozambican President Armando Guebuza is expected to visit Brazil before the end of this month.
Fta/bm/pf (380)
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
