Portugal’s Secretary of State for the Economy, João Rui Ferreira, argued on Tuesday, 1 July, in Maputo that the business relationship between Mozambique and Portugal must enter a new phase, one more squarely oriented towards investment, project execution, and value creation. The position was set out during the Portugal-Mozambique Business Forum 2026, held on the sidelines of the 61st Maputo International Trade Fair (FACIM).
João Rui Ferreira opened by underlining the resilience of Portuguese companies, stressing that they had maintained their presence in Mozambique even through periods of severe economic instability.
‘Portuguese companies, even in the most difficult moments, never left Mozambique. They stayed, weathered those periods of greater hardship and others of growth, and that is what they will continue to do,’ he said.
The minister acknowledged that 2025 had been a ‘difficult’ year, but argued that the country had now entered a new phase characterised by ‘a sense of optimism and confidence’. He said contacts with Portuguese business leaders had revealed a broad willingness to remain in the market and continue investing.
‘I did not, in fact, see a single business leader who wanted to leave, give up, or walk away. Many have already structured their lives around Mozambique, despite the strong link with Portugal, and I received a clear message of optimism,’ he said.
Faced with this disposition from the private sector, João Rui Ferreira called for the creation of public mechanisms to facilitate the development of investment projects in Mozambique, going beyond the traditional instruments of export support.
‘It falls to us, as those responsible for public policy and the institutions that support businesses, to find the best mechanisms — not just for export support, which may come later, but above all for supporting the development of local investment projects,’ he emphasised.
In the Secretary of State’s view, the priority must be to create conditions that allow Portuguese companies to translate expressed interest into concrete investments and durable operations in the Mozambican market.
In another part of his remarks, João Rui Ferreira identified infrastructure construction and the execution of large investment projects planned for the coming years as among the main opportunities to deepen Portuguese business involvement in the country.
Portugal, he added, possesses the experience, technical knowledge, and engineering firms capable of playing an active role in that process.
‘We sense that the next two years will bring some resilience, but also significant opportunities in terms of investment and infrastructure. Portugal has important strengths to contribute through its engineering sector and accumulated know-how,’ he said, arguing that Portugal could establish itself as an ‘important partner’ for Mozambique.
João Rui Ferreira also stressed that the large projects planned for the country would require effective on-the-ground execution capacity — an area in which, in his assessment, Portuguese companies are well positioned.
‘All these major investment projects require physical and practical execution, and we have Portuguese companies well positioned to deliver that,’ he said.
The minister pointed to the natural gas megaprojects as one of the main growth fronts for the Mozambican economy and a potential source of new opportunities for suppliers and service providers.
Mozambique’s Minister of Planning and Development, Salim Valá, in turn argued that the historical relationship between the two countries must be converted into concrete economic results and mutual benefits. ‘The challenge is to transform it into shared prosperity,’ he said, adding that Mozambique is seeking partners who ‘innovate and produce with Mozambique, with a long-term perspective’.
For the minister, the objective must be ‘to build a partnership capable of increasing the country’s productive capacity, stimulating innovation, and creating more lasting economic ties between Mozambican and Portuguese companies’.
Salim Valá also maintained that the new phase of economic cooperation must be more demanding, results-oriented, and less centred on the signing and celebration of agreements. ‘The new phase must be more demanding and therefore less diffuse,’ he said.
Among the indicators that should be used to measure the partnership’s results, the minister cited capital actually invested, the number of companies established, integration of local suppliers, technology transfer, youth capacity-building, and job creation.
Portugal’s Ambassador to Mozambique, Jorge Monteiro, highlighted the scale already achieved by the bilateral business relationship. According to the diplomat, approximately 500 companies with Portuguese capital are currently operating in the Mozambican market, while more than one thousand Portuguese companies maintain commercial relations with Mozambique. For that reason, he stressed, ‘the question we should be asking today is not how much we have already done, but how much we can invest, how much we can produce, and how much value we can create together’.
In the closing part of his remarks, Jorge Monteiro reiterated Portugal’s support for Mozambique’s reform agenda, particularly in the areas of the business environment, legal certainty, administrative simplification, digital transformation, and the fight against corruption.
For the ambassador, the complementarity between Mozambique’s resources and opportunities and the experience and execution capacity of Portuguese companies ‘must be translated into concrete projects capable of increasing investment, expanding production, and creating more value in both economies’.
Source: Diário Económico
Original article: https://www.diarioeconomico.co.mz/?p=536168
