Maputo, 3 May (AIM) – The Mozambican Minister of Industry and Trade, Silvino Moreno, on Tuesday invited Japanese businesses to invest in the industrialization of Mozambique.
Moreno was speaking in Maputo, during a Mozambique-Japan Business Forum, held on the eve of a visit by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The Japanese delegation to the forum was led by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Kenji Yamada.
“Through the national programme ‘Industrialise Mozambique’, we would like to invite business people from Japan to invest in the establishment of industrial parks, the fertilizer and pharmaceutical industries, and the addition of value to agricultural food products”, said Moreno. Other priorities included fishing in Mozambique’s inland waters, and mineral products such as graphite, bauxite and marble.
The purpose of the forum is to publicise investment opportunities and projects, and the possibility of establishing lasting partnerships.
“Japan is on the list of Mozambique’s 20 largest trading partners”, said Moreno. “We have an enormous space for diversification, and to continue increasing our trade and investment dossier”.
He added that the recent entry of large Japanese companies into the Mozambican oil and gas industry raises hope that more Japanese enterprises will set up operations in the country.
As for the trade between the two countries, Moreno said that, over the past five years, Mozambican exports to Japan grew by 89 per cent to reach 449.4 million dollars. Imports from Japan amounted to 1.5 billion dollars.
Mozambique’s advantages for investors, he continued, include its strategic location so that it serves as an entry point to six other countries of SADC (Southern African Development Community). The SADC regional market has about 380 million consumers, and there are 1.3 billion consumers in the African Continental Free Trade Area.
(AIM)
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