EUMAM MOZ receives visit of US delegation
Statement by president Nyusi at the state luncheon hosted by president Khama – Full text
8:27 CAT | 25 Apr 2017
Bw Government Facebook / President of Mozambique Filipe Nyusi
Salutations
Let me, Mr President, start by expressing our profound gratitude for the invitation extended to us during your State Visit to Mozambique for me to pay a State Visit to the Republic of Botswana. Here we are.
I would also like to express on behalf of my delegation and indeed on my own behalf, our sincere appreciation for the warm reception and excellent hospitality that has been accorded to us since our arrival in this beautiful and hospitable City of Gaborone. No wonder, this has been a tradition whenever we arrive here.
We would like to place on the record our recognition to you Mr President for graciously hosting this State Luncheon.
The friendly relationship, and the simplicity and flow that characterises our interaction make us proud and it shows our fraternity and brotherhood.
Yesterday from the same trench we fought side by side to defeat foreign domination, today, we are in a position to win the struggle for socio economic development for our two countries and peoples.
As a witness of this brotherhood and as an indication that what unites us will last forever and will prevail to any storm, Excellency please accept that through you we convey warm greetings from more than 25 million Mozambicans to the People of Botswana.
Dear Brother President Khama,
It is with a great pleasure that we recall that the path of the Mozambicans towards national independence cannot be complete without mentioning the input by Botswana and her People.
Botswana, in the face of different adversities and limitations posed, at that time, by the then Apartheid regime and by the presence of colonialism in our region, opened her doors. Botswana served as a passage point to the Mozambican Nationalists who were heading to Tanzania to join the struggle for the freedom of the Mozambicans.
In this trajectory, we recall with emotion that the Late President Samora Moisés Machel, the first President of independent Mozambique, found in the people of Botswana, accommodation, comfort and safety when in 1963 he crossed this territory on the way to Tanzania.
That sublime gesture has forged everlasting bonds of friendship and solidarity between our two countries and peoples.
It was with a view to immortalising and conveying to future generations these positive dynamics of our friendship and solidarity which keep peoples from both countries closer that we are working together to build the Samora Machel Museum, in Lobatse.
This, in addition to contributing to immortalise the life and work of President Samora Machel, it places Botswana on the map of those countries that in an unconditional, permanent and unequivocal way have left an indelible footprint in the history of the liberation of Mozambique from the colonial yoke.
Mr President,
Since Your Excellency’s last State Visit to Mozambique, in May last year up to now, our country has remained committed to the cause of consolidation of national unity, promotion of peace, strengthening democracy, social justice and respect for the Rule of Law, macroeconomic stability and diversification of relations with regional and international partners.
Over this period Mozambique has faced major political, economic and social challenges, arising from misunderstanding of political nature which led to violence and natural disasters, economic and financial constraints.
These challenges include the suspension of direct support to the National Budget by international cooperating partners.
All these combined factors have largely impacted on our ability to maintain the growth rates that our economy has been experiencing over recent years.
Despite this, I am pleased to share the on-going efforts intended to resuming growth of the economy to previous rates and towards normalising our relationship with international cooperating partners.
The efforts undertaken by the Mozambican Government have been translated into real gains in striving for progress.
It was in this vein that our country has been recording advancements in the search for an effective peace, most importantly, for the relative cessation of military hostilities which are prevalent in some areas in the central region of our country.
The encouraging results that we have been achieving are also owing to the invaluable contribution of Botswana, through the Former President, Sir Ketumile Masire, who in his capacity as a member of the International Facilitation Team has established bridges that restored confidence and trust among the Mozambicans.
We would also like to express our gratitude for the fact that Botswana has authorised the High Commissioner in Maputo to take part in the Contact Group for the dialogue process with Renamo which is underway.
We feel that Batswana have never spared efforts in supporting the Mozambicans in their quest for lasting and sustainable peace.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Mozambique is a country with plenty of business potentials and opportunities, thanks to her rich natural resources which require investors for their effective harnessing.
It is in this regard that we have come to the economic sector of this country to reiterate our invitation so that Botswana participates in existing flagship projects in Mozambique, in particular, development corridors, power generations and transmission, transport and communications, tourism agri-business, livestock and mining projects.
We believe that your participation in these and other projects could leverage socio economic development of our two countries and fast-track regional integration.
In this context, the Government of Mozambique is expanding the capacity of the Port of Maputo in order to enable it to accommodate larger vessels and diversity of cargo.
We believe this is yet another opportunity open for Botswana to utilise this potential for more exports and imports.
This project could be complemented by the construction of the Tchobanine Deep waters Port which is still under consideration and negotiation.
Tchobanine Port is posed as a strategic asset within the framework of effective growth and diversification of the economies of Mozambique, Botswana and Zimbabwe.
The Port can go a long way in realising the SADC Industrialization Strategy and Roadmap (2015/2063).
This objective is in line with the diversification of industrial activities of the economies of the region and in promoting transformation of the economic structure and the establishment of value chains in SADC.
Excellency,
I am pleased to note that the Republic of Botswana has achieved and consolidated a model of participatory democracy which is recognised for its merit in the region, the continent and the world, at large.
In addition it is worth highlighting that Botswana has secured space in the global market of diamonds and other minerals, as well as in major beef markets with an impact on the economic growth.
Since Mozambique is at the stage of discovery of mineral resources and at an early stage of its development, we would like to benefit from the experience of Botswana in order to capitalise on the gains and make them sustainable and drivers of the economic growth and welfare for our people.
At regional level we would like to underscore the role and contribution of the Republic of Botswana in fostering institutional reforms at the SADC Secretariat with a view to ensuring a more intervention capacity in the Region and on the Continent.
Mr President,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are confident that this visit will go a long way in leveraging the implementation of economic projects agreed during the Sessions of the Joint Commission and different high level visits.
On our side we would like to reiterate our desire and total availability to see such projects materialise as soon as possible, as we believe that they have a twofold economic and social impact to our two countries and to the process of regional integration, thus capitalising on the immense potential we have.
We would also like to encourage the business people from our two countries to join hands with our Governments by actively participating and maximising existing opportunities in Mozambique and Botswana.
To conclude, I would like to invite you all to join me in a toast
• To the health and long life of His Excellency Lieutenant General Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama, President of the Republic of Botswana;
• To prosperity of the peoples of our two countries;
• To the health of all present.
THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES FOR DEVELOPMENT!
PULA!
THANK YOU!
Source: BW Government Facebook
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