Mozambique government reinforces control of foreign trade

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Mozambique government reinforces control of foreign trade

2:09 CAT | 12 Sep 2016

Notícias (File photo)

Minister of Industry and Trade Max Tonela said that the difficult economic situation facing Mozambique demonstrated the country’s fragility in foreign trade, and said there was a need to strengthen monitoring.

“We need to strengthen our monitoring capacity for external operations,” Tonela told the 14th Coordinating Council of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, which ended on Saturday in Maputo.

Highlighting under-invoicing as one of the main challenges, Tonela said it had a negative impact on the availability of foreign exchange.

Further to that, Tonela says that Mozambique needs to streamline the process of industrialisation, focusing on training and expertise of skilled labour and the adoption of new technologies.

“Our strategies should focus on raw materials produced in Mozambique,” Tonela said, adding that the creation of more jobs was also a priority for the Mozambican government.

With regard to the current economic crisis, which includes a sharp devaluation in the metical, a rising cost of living and rising inflation, Minister Tonela said that additional measures were needed to deal with the situation, adding that the government was working to keep price rises on basic commodities to the absolute minimum.

“We are working to ensure the acquisition of 250,000 tons of rice for the festive season,” he said, noting that the challenge now also lies in rationalising expenditure, another point discussed by the Coordinating Council.

Under the slogan “Business Environment Improvement; Key to Boosting Agricultural Marketing”, the 14th Coordinating Council joined staff of the Ministry of Industry and Trade for three days in Maputo.

Source: Notícias