The Mozambican government meets every five years to determine the lines of development, pinpointing the sectors it considers strategic for the country’s progress and those that investors should take into account when they want to invest in the country.
On Wednesday 22 November, this topic received special attention from the Minister of Industry and Trade, Silvino Moreno, during the first edition of the Global Gateway Mozambique – European Union (EU) Investment Forum.
Speaking at the high-level plenary session on “Business and Investment Environment in Mozambique: Creating Market Opportunities”, Mr Moreno explained that the country needs investment in structuring instruments, pointing to infrastructures, as “they have the potential to bring in other investments”.
He explained that the other criterion for strategic investment is “the contribution to improving the balance of payments, and here it is worth referring to investments that allow import substitution, enabling Mozambique and other countries to spend their foreign currency on buying goods that can be produced in their respective territories. If we have investments whose implementation can replace imports, they will deserve special attention.”
The minister also pointed out that the Executive seeks to favour investments that have a social impact. “We strive to ensure that investments can create more jobs and contribute to the provision of basic services, especially in health and education. If they have this component, they will be part of our priority,” he points out.
At a time when the world is increasingly relying on technology to optimise production processes, the minister said: “We have no interest in production processes that date back to the beginning of the century, when there were no integrated information technologies. We want the country to move towards digitalisation, which is already a trend in the first world.”
Silvino Moreno recommended that investors take into account the exploitation of mineral resources, since Mozambique has great potential in this area. “We would like to export products that have already been processed, which would create more jobs for our fellow citizens, and we could also solve the problem of imports in this way,” he concluded.
With the theme “Creating Business Opportunities”, and taking place on 22 and 23 November with 14 discussion panels, the Global Gateway Forum is an event organised jointly by the Government of Mozambique, the EU Delegation and the Association of European Chambers of Commerce (EUROCAM), which brings together various stakeholders from the national and European public and private sectors, with the aim of exploring strategies for attracting quality investment, within the scope of the European Union’s Global Gateway Strategy, and boosting trade between Mozambique and the European market.
