Indonesia could be “true business partner” of Mozambique

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Indonesia could be “true business partner” of Mozambique

7:09 CAT | 08 Feb 2017

File photo / Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi declared in Maputo on Tuesday that Indonesia could be “a true business partner” of Mozambique.

Speaking at a one day Mozambique-Indonesia Business Forum, she said that now is the time for the two countries to build a robust economic partnership to stimulate their development.

“Now s the time to build economic partnership between Asia and Africa, and between Indonesia and Mozambique, because these continents and countries have very close historical ties”, she claimed. “We want to renew these ties and turn them into something concrete. It is time for us to march together and cooperate together”.

Marsudi said that Indonesia is interested in investing in Mozambican petroleum and gas, and two Indonesian companies are already working in this sector.

She said that Indonesia has significant capacity in other areas, including industry, and so her delegation included two representatives of what she called “strategic industries” (such as shipbuilding).

“Mozambique has many natural resources”, said Marsudi, “and Indonesia can offer manufacturing, and the training of workers to generate skills”. The areas she had in mind included agriculture and fisheries, as well as manufacturing industry.

Representatives of the Exim Bank of Indonesia attended the Forum. Marsudi said their presence was crucial, since it would be impossible to talk about cooperation between the two countries without mentioning the financial component.

She said the Exim Bank is willing to discuss with Mozambican business people the terms of financing trade between the two countries.

The Confederation of Mozambican business associations (CTA), which organised the event, stressed that major challenges can become investment opportunities.

The CTA’s deputy chairperson, Rogerio Samo Gudo, pointed to the many projects planned for Mozambican railways and ports intended to boost the country’s exports.

He claimed that air transport was another area with investment potential, and pointed to Nacala International Airport, on the northern Mozambican coast, as a potential east African hub airport.

This is an optimistic view, since, despite its name, there are currently no international flights to or from Nacala, and the only airline flying to Nacala is Mozambique Airlines (LAM).

There was also major potential for investing in Mozambican agriculture, said Samo Gudo. He noted that currently agriculture accounts for only 16 per cent of Mozambique’s total exports, a figure he regarded as extremely low, given the potential of the sector.

Despite recent growth in agricultural production, Mozambique remained a net importer of agricultural goods. To change this situation, investments were required in such areas as the management of natural resources, and factories producing such inputs as fertilizers and pesticides.

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Other opportunities lay in processing Mozambican agricultural produce, including maize, cotton, cashew nuts, and citrus fruits.

Attending the forum were ten business people from Indonesia and 50 from Mozambique.