Mozambique: MSMEs contribute 23.4% to the GDP
Photo: AIM
Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi attended a luncheon with more than two dozen directors of Chinese companies at a private club in Beijing on Monday on the sidelines of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum.
The event brought together 24 Chinese entrepreneurs, including representatives of the conglomerate Tiens Group, which operates in the areas of biotechnology, logistics, finance and international trade, at Beijing’s Capital Club, according to images broadcast on one of the participants’ Wechat social network page.
Located next to the Olympic Stadium in the north of Beijing and founded in 1994, the Beijing Capital Club is the “oldest” private business club in the Chinese capital, according to its official website.
This weekend, the Mozambican leader revealed that the flow of trade between Mozambique and China in the period 2013 to 2017 amounted to US$4.6 billion.
Among the products exported by Mozambique, Nyusi highlighted agricultural goods, minerals and raw materials, while imports from China were mainly composed of cars, cereals, diesel, machinery and cement.
“As far as investment is concerned, China has also become one of the largest investors in our country. Between 2013 and the first half of 2018, 148 Chinese direct investment projects were approved, worth a total of US$751 million and likely to create 20,000 jobs for Mozambican citizens,” he added.
Nyusi highlighted China’s presence in the tourism, agriculture and agribusiness sectors and recalled China’s potential in mining, energy production and infrastructure.
“It is in agriculture, throughout its value chain, where we see a vast, rapid and immediate participation of Chinese businesspeople, through the construction of agricultural infrastructure, the introduction of new technologies, mechanisation and research,” he said.
The Mozambican leader also recalled that “the People’s Republic of China is one of the largest investors in the hotel industry in Mozambique, with major tourist developments in the country’s main cities, especially those of the AFECC Gloria group, owners of the largest hotel in Maputo”.
Nyusi stressed “there is still enormous potential to be exploited” in the fisheries sector, “especially in tuna fishing and in fish, crustacean and mollusc farming”, and mentioned the production of hydroelectric, solar and wind energy, noting that Mozambique has reserves of 180 billion cubic feet of natural gas and 20,000 million tons of coal.
“The existence of this great energy potential, together with the geostrategic location of our country, puts us in a privileged position in relation to the other countries of Southern Africa, as far as the production of energy goes – where demand is 40% above current supply,” he said.
Leave a Reply
Be the First to Comment!
You must be logged in to post a comment.
You must be logged in to post a comment.