Czech winds of hope blow through auto industry reactivation plan | Mozambique

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Czech winds of hope blow through auto industry reactivation plan | Mozambique

1:07 CAT | 25 Apr 2023

Photo: O País

Winds of hope about reactivating the vehicle assembly industry in Mozambique are blowing from the Czech Republic. Mozambique’s Minister of Industry and Commerce met visiting Czech State Secretary at the Foreign Ministry Radek Rubes yesterday, with the automotive industry one of the main topics.

“What we have to do with the Czech Republic is take advantage of the knowledge and experience they have. Eventually, start with assembly lines and then we will define whether we are going to go for agricultural equipment, first, or we are going to go for transport equipment,” Minister SIlvino Moreno said.

The Minister pointed out that Mozambique faces major challenges in terms of both agricultural and transport equipment. “I’m talking about minibuses for transporting personnel in urban and peri-urban areas. In agriculture, we are talking about tractors,” he said.

Silvino Moreno also explained why other automobile industries, namely Hyundai and Matchedje Motors, had failed. “There was no problem. It’s a matter of market opportunity. We know that industries work with a market and, if the market is not there, the industry does not survive,” the minister explained.

For its part, the Czech Republic promised further meetings to develop the interest in reactivating the automotive industry in Mozambique.

Another area in which Mozambique hopes to secure Czech investment is agriculture, and there is already a vision to move forward with bilateral cooperation.

“We discussed cooperation, for example, in the agriculture sector, the automotive industry, in the construction area, investments that we can make in public infrastructure – these are the areas in which we are already cooperating and will continue to do so,” Radek Rubes outlined.

State Secretary Rubes’ schedule includes meetings with other government authorities, he explained.

“We have established links between the two embassies, ours based in Pretoria, and yours here. So, I believe that we can enter a joint commission between the two countries and unite, but we are still working on that cooperation,” he advanced.

According to State Secretary Rubes, trade relations with Mozambique slowed down in recent years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “We had a drop during the Covid pandemic, in relation to the number of personnel exchanged between our two countries, which fell a lot. So we are now starting again, and would really like to rebuild our cooperation,” Rubes said.

By Clemencio Fijamo

Source: O País