Prime Minister António Costa concludes this Friday his two-day official visit to Mozambique in connection with the 5th Luso-Mozambique Summit with a program focused mainly on the economy.
The second and last day of the visit starts with a visit to FACIM (International Fair of Maputo), where special attention is paid to the Portuguese exhibitors.
The Prime Minister then spoke at the opening of the Business and Investment Forum with Filipe Nyusi, after which nine agreements were signed, including the “Portuguese Agreement”, which provides for 400 million euros in guarantees from the Portuguese state for investments. in Portuguese-speaking African countries (PALOP), as well as a memorandum of understanding for the review of the Portuguese Business Cooperation Foundation, according to a government source, Lusa said.
Companies such as Galp, Mota-Engil, Visabeira and REN will also sign “documents on cooperation in the fields of vocational training and energy, thereby contributing to Portugal’s development efforts in Mozambique,” the same source said.
The Business and Investment Forum is “based on the promotion and feasibility of opportunities, investments and partnerships” and “provides a unique opportunity to reaffirm the fundamental role of the economic dimension in building a strategic partnership between Portugal and Mozambique.” as priority sectors of the maritime economy, financial services, infrastructure and logistics or agribusiness.
Also in the morning, the Prime Minister’s program includes a visit to the Marine Corps School in Katemba and the Independent Maritime Company to accompany the Portuguese military who are training Mozambican forces as part of the European Union mission.
After lunch with Mozambican leaders at the Portuguese Embassy in Maputo, António Costa meets with Portuguese businessmen, then heads to a Portuguese school where he will meet with the Portuguese community in Mozambique and open a cafeteria.
The program of the visit concludes with a retribution dinner offered by the Prime Minister to the President of the Republic of Mozambique.
António Costa arrived in Maputo on Wednesday evening and met with the President of the Republic of Mozambique on Thursday morning. At the end of this meeting and an extended meeting with the delegations of the two countries, several bilateral cooperation agreements were signed in areas such as agriculture, education, heritage restoration, justice, as well as at the level of technical and operational competencies of the security forces and services of Mozambique.
The Prime Minister emphasized the importance of strengthening relations between the two countries, and also announced a 40% increase in funds allocated to projects under the Strategic Cooperation Program with Mozambique, which amount to more than 90 million euros out of a total amount of 185 million euros. .
For his part, the President of the Republic of Mozambique thanked Portugal for its support, for example, in the fight against terrorism and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Filipe Nyusi emphasized the success of this bilateral summit and announced that the next meeting of the two countries would take place in Portugal, but did not specify the date.
On this visit, António Costa was accompanied by Foreign Ministers João Gomes Cravinho, the Ministry of National Defense Helena Carreiras and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Maria do Seu Antunes.
The Portuguese government’s entourage was also followed by secretaries of state for foreign affairs and cooperation, Francisco André, for tax affairs, António Mendonça Mendes, and for economics, João Neves.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
