Portugal and Mozambique signed this Monday a new bilateral Strategic Cooperation Program (PEC) for the period 2022-2026, with an indicative value of 80 million euros, 12 million more than the previous one, which ends this year.
A reinforcement that “means the work is going well” and that will reach new areas, said Francisco André, Portuguese Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.
The Portuguese Minister is in Maputo until Thursday for a program that started with the signature of the PEC with the Mozambican Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Manuel Gonçalves.
Education and health will continue to be the areas in which Portugal will invest the most through the various entities involved in cooperation.
Culture, institutional capacity building, humanitarian aid and resilience activities, alongside other sectors such as security cooperation, are also part of the plans, following on from what has already been done, with special attention to the humanitarian crisis in Cabo Delgado.
The indicative value of 80 million euros may even go up.
“So our authorities, organizations, civil society and all partners have the capacity to work: we are available to increase this [financial] envelope throughout the term,” said Francisco André.
The financial support serves to “mobilize partnerships”, but not as direct aid to the Mozambican State Budget (OE), he explained, questioned by Lusa.
“If at a given moment it is necessary, if it is necessary to provide direct support, then it will be considered,” he said.
Several partners, including the European Union (EU) and its countries, formally suspended direct support to the OE in 2016 after the discovery of the hidden debts of the state, amounting to 2.7 billion dollars, a case whose trial is ongoing.
About the cooperation in the next four years, Francisco André left new ideas, mentioning that the strategy foresees the bet on an “economic transition, which is doubly green and digital” in which the two countries will collaborate.
“In a post-pandemic world, the two countries must make an economic recovery that is fair, that leaves no one behind, and that serves to combat inequality of opportunity,” he added.
In this regard, Francisco André announced a new donation of 200,000 vaccines against covid-19 to Mozambique, with delivery scheduled for December 10 – Portugal has already delivered 547,000 vaccines as part of its bilateral commitment to the country.
The PEC is “the main pillar of the dialogue between the two countries”, classified Francisco André, next to Manuel Gonçalves, Mozambique’s vice-minister of diplomacy, who considered the document as a “reflection of the solid and consistent relationship” between the two countries.
By financing actions of several entities during four years, the program will serve to “fight poverty, support development and training”, highlighted Manuel Gonçalves, considering it a document that points to a “sustainable future”.
