The governments of Mozambique and Angola on Tuesday (23) called for greater involvement of the private sector in order to speed up and increase economic relations and achieve concrete results that benefit both countries.
Speaking during the 10th session of the Joint Commission, the Mozambican Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Verónica Macamo, said it was “necessary for economic relations to rise to the same level of excellence as political relations”.
“We need the volume of business to grow exponentially, so that more Mozambicans and Angolans can take advantage of the work we do in various areas,” she said.
She pointed to the political and diplomatic fields, defence and security, justice, constitutional and religious affairs, transport and communications, mineral resources and energy, as well as public works, water resources and housing as the sectors with notable gains in bilateral cooperation.
For his part, the Angolan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Téte António, considered that the economic potential of both nations should be capitalised on, and that there is even significant scope for improving economic relations and trade, given the potential and opportunities that both economies offer.
The Angolan leader announced his intention to hold a business forum in Maputo between businesspeople from the two countries to explore opportunities in more areas.
“The implementation, already in force, of the visa waiver agreements between Angola and Mozambique, as well as the increase in the frequency of air connections are instruments that can be used to boost economic cooperation ties,” he continued.
“We must therefore maximise and increase exchanges, including the active participation of the private sector,” he said.
As part of closer bilateral relations, the two countries signed a cooperation agreement in the health sector at the meeting, with the aim of exchanging information and experiences, and also decided to hold periodic political consultations, reiterating their mutual support for candidacies in international organisations.
The next session of the Joint Commission will be held in 2026, preceded by a meeting in 2025 to review the progress made in the cooperation memoranda that the two countries have initialled.
