This Tuesday, 4 June, a delegation of Ukrainian businesspeople held a business meeting with Mozambican businesspeople with a view to promoting solid partnerships in the agricultural sector, as well as sharing business experiences.
On the occasion, the president of the Confederation of Economic Associations (CTA), Agostinho Vuma, explained that during the interactive meetings with the Ukrainian Embassy it was possible to identify agribusiness and agro-industry as the main sectors to explore, and he praised Ukraine’s strengths in agricultural production, especially of crops such as wheat, as well as its great capacity for industrial processing of products, through the already consolidated agro-processing industry.
The source told the Ukrainian business community that one of the major challenges facing the country at the moment is its ability to capitalise on the benefits of its real potential in the agricultural sector, in order to guarantee its self-sufficiency. ‘With the large expanse of arable land, combined with the technological aspects that can be derived from the partnership with Ukrainian entrepreneurs in the sector, we believe that the country can easily achieve the goal of self-sufficiency,’ said Agostinho Vuma.
Agostinho Vuma – President of CTA
The president of CTA pointed out that the Mozambican private sector is interested in promoting partnerships with Ukrainian companies, with the aim of increasing levels of investment and trade between the two countries. ‘The trade relationship between Mozambique and Ukraine is still in its infancy, with a trade value of around 113.7 million meticals (1.8 million dollars) in 2022, compared to around 1.2 billion meticals (20 million dollars) in the pre-Covid19 period, of which around 90 per cent referred to the import of wheat and rye mixtures,’ he said, adding that ‘in this regard, because of the synergies that could result and the existing market, we would like to invite Ukrainian businessmen to enter into partnerships with a view to producing and developing the wheat value chain, given that Mozambique imports around 240 million US dollars worth of this cereal’.
For his part, Mikola Totchytski, deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential office, said: ‘We are happy to share our experiences with you, but we will be even happier to hear about your possibilities, needs and how we can deepen our co-operation.’
Deputy Head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office Mikola Totchytski
Ukraine took the opportunity to put on the agenda of its talks with Mozambican businesspeople the sharing of information about the Global Peace Summit in that country, which will take place in Switzerland on 15 and 16 June, saying that nuclear safety, food security and humanitarian needs are among the main topics of debate at the summit.
‘We’re also here to promote President Volodymyr Zelensky’s vision of the peace issue, in particular to share information about the upcoming peace summit,’ said Mikola Totchytski.
It should be noted that on 22 May, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, invited his Mozambican counterpart to take part in the Global Peace Summit in Ukraine during a telephone conversation in which Filipe Nyusi recognised the growing relations between the two countries.
