Mozambique: CTA proposes measures for effective implementation of Economic Acceleration Package

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Mozambique: CTA proposes measures for effective implementation of Economic Acceleration Package

12:53 CAT | 19 Jul 2024

Photo: Ministério da Indústria e Comércio - Centro de Informação de Negócios

The Confederation of Economic Associations of Mozambique (CTA – private sector forum) has put forward proposals for the effective implementation of the 20 measures in the Package of Economic Acceleration Measures (PAE).

“This is the case of PAE Measure Number 2, on VAT exemption on imports for agriculture and electricity. In this measure, the inclusion of products for aquaculture was suggested, a sector that is included in measure 3 of the PAE,” President of the CTA Agostinho Vuma told the opening ceremony of the XIII Meeting of the Interministerial Removal Group of Barriers to Investment (GIRBI) on Wednesday.

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According to Vuma, the effective implementation of the 20 measures requires time and critical phasing. As an example, he cites Measure Number 10, which introduces the obligation to mix imported fuels with biofuels.

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“In addition to the legal component, primary production and the existence of the crop processing industry, such as sugar cane, corn, sorghum, jatropha, among others, which are used as raw material, constitute critical steps,” Vuma added.

He said that this position emerged during the latest Annual Private Sector Conference (CASP), which took place last May in Maputo, where the introduction of reference prices for the mining sector was also discussed.

“In this edition of CASP, there was a positive assessment of the introduction of reference prices in the mining sector, which increased revenues by 30%, with the programmed allocation of revenues to communities increasing by 44.7 million meticais to 77.4 million in 2023, with prospects for this value to increase to more than 300 million this year,” he explained.

The new Labour Law and the Private Investment Law were also approved at the last CASP.

Vuma said then that the private sector was looking forward to “extending the validity period of some measures in the economic acceleration package, such as the reduction of IRPC to 10% percent”, which measure had the power to boost the performance of the national economy.

Because some reforms foreseen in the PAE cannot be implemented in isolation, the sector is requesting their review in order to better adapt them to the real challenges facing the country.

“Furthermore, recognizing the fact that there are reforms that require other instruments for their materialization, such as the regulation of labour and private investment laws, among others, we advocate the need to, in advance, create the conditions in this sense, which will significantly contribute to its effective implementation,” Vuma highlighted.

Minister of Industry and Commerce Silvino Moreno on the same occasion defended joint work between the private sector and the government for a better business environment in Mozambique.

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“We invite partners, the Confederation of Economic Associations, in order to provide better alignment and responsibilities on both sides of the proposals for joint action to improve the business environment in the country,” Minister Moreno said.

At the last GIRBI meeting in March, it was agreed to create a platform for assessing the business environment across the country, called the “Ease of Doing Business Assessment Mechanism in Mozambique”.

Moreno argued that the “platform must attract due attention from all actors involved in the business environment process”.

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