Relations between Mozambique and Japan in spotlight today

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Relations between Mozambique and Japan in spotlight today

12:09 CAT | 12 Jul 2017

Relations between Mozambique and Japan will be discussed today at a conference in Maputo that brings together Mozambican leaders and Japanese diplomats at a time when the two countries are growing closer together.

“The March visit of the president of Mozambique to Japan and the recent visit of the Japanese foreign minister to Maputo demonstrate the importance of the relationship for both countries,” note the organisers of the event, a partnership between Barclays Bank Mozambique and the magazine Exame.

Japan is Mozambique’s ninth largest trading partner. According to data from the Mozambican National Statistics Institute, in 2016, imports of Japanese goods and services totalled US$108 million, while exports of Mozambican goods to Japan amounted to about US$31 million.

In 2016, the Brazilian company Vale sold a minority stake in the Moatize coal mine and half of the Nacala Logistics Corridor to Japan’s Mitsui, and there were also contacts in the natural gas field.

The government of Japan has also supported the construction and rehabilitation of bridges across the country in a program through which it donated US$12 million to Mozambique a year ago.

At the time, Japanese ambassador Akira Mizutani said that, “despite the issue of the undisclosed debt, Japan will continue to conduct non-reimbursable financial cooperation with Mozambique”.

In 2014, the two countries signed a bilateral cooperation agreement to rehabilitate the port of Nacala, build educational and research centres in Nampula and Maputo and build the current fish market in Maputo.

The “Economic Partners of Mozambique: Japan” conference will take place today in a hotel in the capital and will be attended by representatives of the Mozambican government, the Japanese embassy, JICA (Japanese Cooperation), JETRO (Japan External Trade Organisation) and companies Mitsui and Sumitomo.

Source: Lusa