In an atmosphere of great expectation and enthusiasm among the main export actors in Mozambique, the Promove Comércio – Creating Export Competitiveness Project was officially launched on 29 March in Maputo. This is a Programme financed by the European Union, with a total value of 6.5 million Euros, and implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), in close collaboration with the Mozambican Government. The 4-year Project will have actions in the areas of Quality Infrastructure, Qualification of SMEs and Trade Safeguards, to help national companies to export to the European Union market.
The launch event held in a hybrid way was attended by the Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Ludovina Bernardo, who, on the occasion, indicated that the Project is considered strategic for the country, as it will help boost Mozambique’s trade balance, with the strengthening of national companies.
“We want to promote the strengthening of the national and local private sector. We believe that this project can be one of the catalysts for our operational aspiration to value and consume national production, diversify exports and boost investment,” he said.
The European Union Ambassador to Mozambique, Antonio Sánchez-Benedito Gaspar, said in turn that Mozambique is well positioned to take advantage of the Economic Partnership Agreement and increase the levels of its exports. “It has a strategic geographical location, a young population, with enormous potential and resources. We also want to contribute to the process of economic growth in this country, creating jobs for the population by strengthening export competitiveness.”
In another development, the ambassador of the European Union in Mozambique, António Sánchez-Benedito Gaspar, said, “we want to go far, but also go fast, because the country cannot wait, and it is important to urgently move forward on quality issues and the diversification of the country’s export capacity, and for this we have the best team and partners.”
In his turn, the UNIDO representative in Mozambique, Jaime Comiche, said he believed that the implementation of the project would contribute to the materialisation of the objectives of structural transformation of the economy, recommended by the Government’s 2020-24 programme and enable companies to take greater advantage of the SADC market, the SADC-European Union Economic Partnership Agreement and also the African continental free trade agreement.
