The president of the Mozambican Confederation of Economic Associations (CTA), Agostinho Vuma, defended the importance of diversifying forms of economic development. For this to happen, more foreign investment must be attracted, and he therefore called on the heads of Portuguese hotel chains to invest more in national tourism, in order to boost the sector and create more jobs.
Speaking on Wednesday (24) on the sidelines of the Mozambique-Portugal Business Forum, held at the Belém Cultural Centre, Vuma explained that the country is “virgin” in tourism because the level of investment does not meet the requirements of international brands.
“We need to convince the big international hotel chains to work together to make the country more attractive,” he said.
He emphasised that the country’s long coastline should be exploited despite the logistical difficulties. “Our country has a coastline of 3,000 kilometres, we have infrastructure challenges, and that’s why our internationalisation equation includes the infrastructure sector.”
As for the balance of his stay in Portugal, the CTA leader highlighted the visits made to companies located in the north of Sines and Lisbon. “Everything is fantastic and fulfils our expectations. We’re here with the aim of restoring the level of trade between the two countries.”
“At the top of the agenda are food products and trade in general, because man can’t feed himself on gas. Portugal is interested in promoting the internationalisation of companies through industrial parks, as we saw in Porto, and we’re interested in working on leather exports, but also on the energy side we saw the need for Mozambique to continue attracting more investment,” he concluded.
