Mozambique and Malawi will be discussing how to maximise the use of the infrastructures of the Nacala and Beira logistics corridors from Monday (30) in the Malawian city of Blantyre.
For five days, the joint standing committee on Transport and Communications of the two countries will analyse the current state of infrastructure projects along the Nacala and Beira corridors, with greater emphasis on one-stop borders.
From Monday until Thursday 2 November, the work agenda of the senior officials from the Ministries of Transport and Communications of the two countries will be dedicated to preparing the dossiers to be submitted to the line ministers next Friday (3), the highlight of the bilateral meeting, during which the bilateral rail and road transport agreements will be analysed within the institutional framework of the Nacala development corridor management committee, which will enable the regulation of rail and road transport activities between the two signatory countries.
This is one of the strategies for making the Southern African trade and connectivity project viable, for economic prosperity through the free movement of people and goods along the Beira and Nacala corridors.
According to Rádio Moçambique, Malawi’s imports far exceed its exports, which leads to a very segmented transport market. In addition, most imported goods are transported by road, implying higher costs for Malawi, a fact that the government of Lazarus Chakwera wants to see reversed by investing in rail transport.
Meanwhile, it is hoped that after this meeting, appropriate mechanisms will be identified for greater efficiency and competitiveness of the ports of Nacala and Beira, the establishment of mechanisms and design of strategies for making logistics more flexible and the definition of mechanisms for the inclusion of sovereign interests in the transport and communications sector.
The standardisation of regional administrative procedures, the reduction of bureaucracy in freight forwarding and a permanent air link between the two countries are other issues to be discussed and agreed between the two parties.
