4 The Japan Times Monday, June 25, 2012

第３種郵便物認可

Mozambique national day

Hopes are high as nation develops, growth accelerates
Belmiro José Malate
Ambassador of MozambiqueThis year we are celebrating the37th anniversary of our National
Day. On this auspicious occasion, I wish toconvey, on behalf of the government of Mozambique andthat of my own,
warm and cordial greetings toTheir Imperial
Majesties Emperor Akihito andEmpress Michiko, and my best
wishes for happiness and prosperity to the people of Japan. I
also wish to take this opportunity to extend my greetings andbest wishes to members of theMozambican community residing in Japan.

New opportunities

We are celebrating our 37th anniversary of independence in an
ambience of renewed opportunities and renewed hope. The
proclamation of independence
37 years ago was in itself an opportunity for us to decide ourdestiny, since we were finally freefrom colonial rule. At that time,
our hopes were very high since
we believed that we were capableand able to transform into reality
the dreams of a democratic andprosperous country where we all
could live in peace, harmony anddignity. But soon, these aspirations were shadowed and compromised by the war of destabilization that claimed many lives
and destroyed our economic andsocial infrastructures.
The peace that was attainedon Oct. 4, 1992, provided us withthe unique opportunity to once
more re-launch our project ofsocial and economic development. Peace for us was not andis not just the absence of armedconflict. Peace meant to us theopportunity of reconciliation anddeepening our common identity
as Mozambicans. Peace meantto us the opportunity to redefine our strategies to promotesustainable development. Peace
presented us with the opportunities to build strong foundations
on which our democratic process would flourish.
As we look back, we canclearly see the fruits of peace andstability. Today, Mozambique ischaracterized by political pluralism, the rule of law and social

justice, where all citizens canfreely exercise their democratic
rights. Mozambique is one of
the fastest-growing economies
in the world, with an average
growth of 7 percent for the last
10 years. These remarkableachievements are a product ofclear vision in the articulation of
our goals, committed leadershipin bringing all citizens arounda common objective and determined citizens who were able totransform challenges into opportunities of progress.
While a lot has been done,
challenges are still significant if
we consider that more than 50
percent of the population livein poverty, food security is stilla goal to be achieved and infrastructures are a pressing need tobe addressed in order to secure
the smooth flow of goods andpeople within the country. Although access to primary education has increased significantly, a
lot of our people cannot read andwrite. These issues mean that weneed to redouble our energies toresolve the pending problems.
Our aspirations are high since
so far we have been able, withlimited resources, to mobilize
the necessary efforts to bringabout the positive changes that
Mozambican society is experiencing today in all sectors. Ourconvictions of continued success are high because we counton the support of many partners
like Japan who joined hands with
us when we were taking our firststeps as a newly independent
country, supported us during thedifficult and trying times of ourconflict, and are today workingwith us in the process of reconstruction and development.
Today we look at the futurewith confidence because thecountry is discovering importantnatural resources, particularly related to the energy sector, whichhave a great potential to contribute to accelerated growth. In
fact, enormous reserves of natural gas have been discovered in
the northern part of the country,making Mozambique an important player in the international
gas market. The country also
has large reserves of mineralcoal, important for the powerand steel industries.
In this context it is the desireof the government of Mozambique and of the people in general that these discoveries will
generate additional resources toStrengthening ties: Mozambique Prime Minister Aires Ali meets with Prime Minister Yoshihiko
Noda in Tokyo on Feb. 21. Cabinet public relations officePotential: A successful flow test is conducted at a large-scale liquefied natural gas project off the coast of Mozambique. Right: Pemba beach has developed into a major tourist destination for divers
and those who enjoy water sports. Anadarko petroleum corp. / kodai matsuoka

accelerate growth and development. But for that, the first andmost important element is thatthey should be explored in a sustainable manner. It is also important that these resources do nottransform Mozambique into amere producer and exporter ofprimary goods. Value addition isparamount since it leads not only
to industrialization but also to job
creation and technology transfer,among others. So, as we engage
with Japanese companies thatare actively participating in thedevelopment of these resources,
we would like to see the emerging of an innovative partnershipthat is anchored in the pillars ofmutual benefit.

Bilateral cooperation

Our hopes are also renewed because in the course of the current

year we witnessed the renewal
and deepening of our bilateral relations of cooperation. In February this year, Mozambique Prime
Minister Aires Ali paid an officialvisit to Japan. During his visit,
Prime Minister Ali had a very
productive bilateral meeting withH.E. Prime Minister YoshihikoNoda. In that meeting, a numberof areas were identified for mutually beneficial cooperation.

The two leaders reaffirmed
their commitment to further
strengthening their cooperative relationship in the area ofresource development, including coal and natural gas. They
agreed to start negotiations for abilateral investment agreementwith a view to promote investment in Mozambique. Japan
expressed its commitment tocontinuing assistance for Mo-

PAGE: 4zambique’s development efforts,
including the implementation of
the ProSAVANA Program, as wellas infrastructure development in
the Nacala Development Corridor. The two leaders expressed
their desire to see the Tokyo International Conference for African Development (TICAD) process renewed and strengthened
during the upcoming meetingscheduled to take place in June
2013. Prime Minister Ali also
had a productive meeting with
the CEOs of Japanese companies
that are currently investing inMozambique and assured themof the continued support of thegovernment of Mozambique intheir undertakings.
Also this year, Mozambique’s
minister of health, the vice minister of trade and industry, thevice minister of transport andcommunications and the minister of mineral resources havecome to Japan with the goalof further strengthening thegood relations between the twocountries and establishing solid
grounds for continued Japanesesupport to Mozambique. Japan
has a vast and multifaceted program of cooperation with Mozambique, covering the areas ofhealth, education, infrastructures(roads and bridges), water man-agement infrastructures, food security, de-mining, environment
protection, tourism, training
and capacity building. About 50
Japanese volunteers are currently
working in different sectors inMozambique.
On the other hand, various
Japanese government and private
business delegations have visited
Mozambique with the objectivesof establishing good relations andpromoting economic interestsand cooperation between Japanand Mozambique. Of these, it isworth noting the visit of Tadahiro
Matsushita, the then vice minister of economy, who had cordialand constructive meetings withMozambican authorities that
contributed to consolidating bilateral relations. A public-private
mission of Japan, Brazil and Mozambique that visited the Nacala
Development Corridor in April
to get first contact with the area
where the ProSAVANA  programis going to be developed, as wellas to establish first contact withthe local authorities.
The ProSAVANA, a Triangular program to be jointly implemented by Mozambique, Japanand Brazil, was launched in October 2010, within the TICAD IV
South-South cooperation, and isContinued on page 5

The Japan Times Monday, June 25, 2012 5

第３種郵便物認可

Mozambique national dayCollaboration: Mozambican and Japanese researchers work together in a field in Nampula Province
under the framework of the ProSAVANA Program. Japan international cooperation agency

Boosting cooperation with Japanese companies
Continued from page 4

designed to transform the Nacala
Development Corridor in northern Mozambique into a highly
productive agricultural zone. The
program will benefit from thepositive experiences of a similar
program that was implemented
in the Cerrado region of Brazil,
since it shares similarities interms of climate and landscape.
Moreover, the number ofJapanese companies that arealready established in Mozambique and those who haveshown great interest in establishing businesses in the country has grown particularly in thearea of energy and mineral resources such as coal and naturalgas. These include corporations
such as Mitsubishi, Sojitz, Mitsui,Hitachi, Nippon Steel, Marubeni
and Sumitomo.

Added responsibilities

The country is also committed
to carrying on with its regional
and international obligations
and for that reason, this year inparticular has committed itself inorganizing two important events.
One is the 32nd Summit of theHeads of States and Governmentof the Southern African Development Community (SADC),
which will take place in Maputo
in August, when Mozambique
will also take over the rotatingpresidency. SADC is an important organization of which Mozambique is a member and has
been at the center of the promotion of regional integration. It is
our conviction that Mozambique
will use the occasion to contribute to the materialization of thememorandum of understanding that was signed between
the SADC and Japan in March
this year since it will contributeto strengthen political dialogue
and boost cooperation in areas
such as regional infrastructuredevelopment.
Mozambique will also welcome the Summit of the Headsof States and Government ofthe Community of Portuguese
Speaking Countries (CPLP),

which will be held in Maputo on
July 20 under the theme “CPLP
and the Challenges of Food Security and Nutrition.”
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the people ofJapan and the Japanese government for their continued supportand cooperation in promoting
friendly relations between our
two countries. I would like toalso extend my special appreciation to the non-governmentalorganizations that, one way oranother, have been supporting
poor communities in Mozambique. Small as it may appear,
it is in fact a great contribution
coming from ordinary Japanesecitizens committed to eradicating poverty in the world to thecommon citizens of Mozambique. Your efforts are highly regarded by our people.
Finally, I would like to thank
The Japan Times for granting me
the opportunity to address andgreet its esteemed readers on thisoccasion, and to thank the companies that sponsored this page.