Russia wants to boost trade, strengthen bilateral ties with Mozambique – Ambassador

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Russia wants to boost trade, strengthen bilateral ties with Mozambique – Ambassador

3:55 CAT | 09 Aug 2019

Picture: Embaixada da Rússia em Moçambique

According to the country’s ambassador in Maputo, Russia is expressing an interest in harnessing Mozambique’s potential and intensifying trade, noting that recent years have seen advances in bilateral cooperation.
“There is potential for growth and diversification of the trade structure between Russia and Mozambique, and we want to increase the proportion of industrial goods,” Alexander Surikov said at a press conference on bilateral cooperation and Moscow’s drive to strengthen trade ties with Africa on Wednesday.

“Russia is making efforts to reactivate economic relations with Mozambique and recently we have had some progress in this area,” he said.

The dynamics of trade between Mozambique and Russia have been positive. In 2018, bilateral trade increased to almost US$115 million (€102 million), up 25% on the previous year, Surikov noted.

In the first quarter of this year, trade more than doubled, reaching US $24.3 million (€21.6 million), up from US$11.2 million (€9.97 million) in Q1 last year.

One example of the focus on Mozambique is the launch last July of the heavy sand exploration project in Zambezia province by the Russian company Tazetta Resources, the ambassador said, in an investment that will reach US$100 million (€89 million), of which US$5 million (€4.4 million) will be spent on social projects.

Regarding cooperation with Africa in general, Alexander Surikov said that Russia was keen to strengthen ties with the continent and would be holding an inaugural Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi in October of this year.

The event will be attended by heads of state, prime ministers and ministers from over 40 countries in Africa, as well as businesspeople from countries all over the continent.

“We hope this further fosters our cooperation with the continent, both in the political and economic spheres,” Ambassador Surikov concluded.

Source: Lusa