6 The Japan Times Tuesday, June 25, 2013

第３種郵便物認可

Mozambique national day

Implementing plans to fully realize nation’s potential
Belmiro José Malate,Ambassador of Mozambique

Today we are celebrating one
more anniversary of our independence, the 38th. On thisimportant andhistoric day I
would like, on
behalf of thegovernment ofMoz a mb i q ue
and that of myown, to congratulate all the Mozambican community residing
in Japan and wish them happy
commemorations. Allow me toalso use this occasion to extend
to His Imperial Majesty Emperor
Akihito and Her Imperial Majesty Empress Michiko best wishesof good health and happiness.
My greetings are equally extended to the Japanese government
and the people and to all thefriends of Mozambique who are
joining us today in marking thisauspicious date.
This year’s celebration is anespecial one because it coincides
with the commemoration of thegolden jubilee of the Organization of African Unity (OAU),
today’s African Union (AU), at
which all African leaders re-instated their desire to continue towork together to foster the noble
ideals of the fore-founders of theorganization and their commitment to build a peaceful andintegrated continent. The OAU Liberation Committee, which
was established to support theprocess toward independence ofmany African countries, supported Frelimo in its struggle for theemancipation of Mozambique,which was under the colonial
rule of Portugal. In this context
it is only proper that we do not
only celebrate the fifth anniversary of the organization but also
pay a special homage to all thevisionary Pan-Africanists who,
one way or another significantly
contributed to the total liberation of the African continent.

Partnership: Right, Mozambique’s President Armando Guebuza and Prime Minister Shinzo Abehold a summit meeting on May 31 in Yokohama on the sidelines of the fifth Tokyo International
Conference on African Development (TICAD V). Above, Mozambique’s Minister of Planning andDevelopment Aiuba Cuereneia and Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida sign the Agreement between
Japan and the Republic of Mozambique on the Reciprocal Liberalization, Promotion andProtection of Investment, in Yokohama on June 1, when TICAD V commenced. Cabinet public
relations office, ministry of foreign affairs of JapanI am pleased to share that Mozambique has continued to enjoy peace and stability. Twentyone years have passed since thesigning of the Rome Agreementthat ended the civil war in 1992.
We can pride ourselves for having been able to set aside ourdifferences, embrace the spiritof reconciliation and the noble
values of national unity to build
a prosperous country. Democracy is gaining strength and isallowing more Mozambicans
to participate in the national
agenda of fighting against poverty. In the efforts to consolidate
democracy the parliament approved a new electoral law thatwill serve as the basis for themunicipal and general elections.
The parliament also approved
the creation of an additional 10
new municipalities, bringing thetotal to 53. The creation of newmunicipalities is part of the decentralization strategy that thegovernment is gradually implementing throughout the country,
intended to allow more citizens
to participate in the democratic
process at a local level. For thefourth time Mozambique willhold municipal elections in November 2013, confirming once
again our determination to ensure the participation of the citizens in the local development

and to exercise the freedom ofelecting and being elected.

Recent performanceMozambique continues to register a satisfactory social andeconomic performance, despite the fact that the country
was adversely affected by thefinancial crisis that affected theworld and the natural disasters
that devastated the central partof the country. The 2012 Socialand Economic Program of Mozambique (PES) indicates thatthe country has accrued positive results in the achievementof the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs), though recog-

nizing that they will not be fully
achieved by 2015. This meansthat the government needs tocontinue to double its efforts inorder to achieve the MDGs by2015. In this regard we welcome
the reassurance of the government of Japan to, under TICAD 
V, continue to provide support toMozambique and other Africancountries in attaining the MDGs,
but also to collaborate in the development of a new frameworkthat will help developing countries to overcome poverty post2015.
The country continues to experience positive growth rates
at an average of more than 7
percent, a trend that the country has maintained since 1996.
This developments posts Mozambique among the 10 fastest
growing countries in the world;
an important achievement if wealso consider that the country iscited as the successful example
of a nation that achieved peaceand reconciliation that produced stability, that in turn isbeing translated into social andeconomic development. The
macroeconomic reforms thatthe government is implementing and the positive environment for conducting businessin the country have continuously attracted investment. This
contributes to making resources
available for the developmentof natural resources and thecreation of employment for
the young generation. The discovery of enormous reserves ofcoal in the Tete Province, central part of Mozambique, andof natural gas in the Rovuma
basin, located in the northernMozambique, have generated
an additional interest from investors who operate in these areas. Japanese companies havebeen very active in seizing opportunities to invest in Mozambique. In fact, corporations like
Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Nippon Steel

People-to-people: An expert from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) teaches ata health training institute in Mozambique. Japan international cooperation agencyand Sumitomo Metal, Impex,
Hitachi and Sojitz are alreadydoing business in Mozambique. It is our belief that therecently signed Agreement between Japan and Mozambiqueon the   Reciprocal Liberalization, Promotion and Protectionof Investment will contributeto encourage more Japanese toestablish themselves in Mozambique.
The development of the said
resources will, on the one side,increase the chances of Mozambique generating additional resources that will help in the fightagainst poverty. But on the otherside, it poses a number of challenges that need to be overcome
so that the potential they represent can be fully realized.

Natural resources

PAGE: 6In his 2012 State of the Nation
Speech, President Armando
Guebuza recognized that thecountry is endowed with a diversity of natural resources, but
he warned that the existence ofnatural resources is not in itself  
synonymous with development.
It does not mean being rich.
It is a promise of wealth still tobe realized. He further said thatthe transformation of naturalresources into wealth can be along process. On the other side
the process of transformation of
the natural resources into wealthpresented the country with newchallenges which need to be urgently addressed. The challenges
have to do with the need to develop infrastructure, provide theprojects with skilled manpower,
wealth redistribution, amongothers. To respond to these chal-lenges the government has put
together a strategy that has sevenpillars, of which I will elaborateon the following.
The first one has to do with
the need to put at the disposalof these projects the necessary
infrastructures to secure theproduction, transportation andexport of the said mineral resources. For this the government
has designed a plan of action toincrease the capacity to transportcoal from the current 6.5 million
tons a year to 50 million a year
in the middle term. In this perspective the capacity of the Senarailway line will be increased
from the current 6.5 million tons
a year to 25 million by 2016. A new line, linking Moatize to theport of Nacala, with the capacity
to handle 30 million tons perContinued on page 7

The Japan Times Tuesday, June 25, 2013 7

第３種郵便物認可

Mozambique national day
Prosperity
throughcooperation
Continued from page 6

year is already under construction, and will be operational in
2015. Two additional lines linking Moatize to Mecuzi, and another that links the Sena line in
the Mutarara District to the Nacala line in the Malema District.
Both will have an initial capacityof 25 million tons per year.
The second challenge has to
do with the provision of skilled
people to meet the demands oflabor of the emerging industries
in the area of natural resources.
The government has adopted astrategy for the training and capacitating of human resources
between 2010 and 2024. In thisregard public and private universities are revising their curricula to adhere to the adopted
strategy. New professional andtechnical training institutes arebeing built in many parts of thecountry, particularly in the areas
were the natural and mineral resources are being explored. It isagain part of the strategy of thegovernment to encourage theparticipation of the productive
sector in this exercise. Companies are therefore encouraged
to finance the process of training and capacitating, including
through partnerships with training institutions.
The redistribution of thewealth is another challenge thatthe recently discovered natural resources imposes upon us.
The vision of the government
sees these could be achieved inthree ways. The first is that themany projects that are being
implemented to develop natural resources generate employment. The second is through thecollection of taxes and in this regard it is also important that thecountry eliminates the dependence from foreign resources.
In 2004 the level of dependence
was 48 percent. It is hoped that

Resort: A dhow vessel sails by the Medjumbe private island in the Quirimbas Archipelago in the Indian Ocean off Mozambique.
Embassy of Mozambiquein 2012 the participation of local
resources will be 61 percent andin 2013 67 percent. The third isthrough the participation of
public companies in the processof development and explorationof the natural resources. It is alsothe vision of the government that
more local companies should
be involved in the provision ofgoods and services to major
projects.

Cooperation with JapanThe relations of cooperation between our two countries havebeen consolidating, expanding
and improving in terms of quality. It is important to acknowledge that our cooperation is inspired in our agreement to findthe best ways to promote thewell-being of our respective peoples, based on the principles ofmutual benefit, mutual respect

and ownership. It also basedon our belief that development
is the right of every human being, wherever he is in this vastplanet. Sharing the positive experiences, the ones that contribute to take us a step forward isa natural process in our endlessendeavor to promote the wellbeing and prosperity of our respective peoples.
Today we can pride ourselves
for having achieved high levelsof understanding that have allowed cooperation to flourish.
In fact, political dialogue has
been a permanent feature of thisrelationship where we have exchanged high-level delegations
that have allowed for the exchange of ideas on how to havea better understanding of thechallenges and opportunities.
In this context the minister oftransport and communications  

visited Japan in February to exchange views on how Japan canfurther support in the development of infrastructures particularly to facilitate the transportof coal from Moatize, in Tete
Province, to the Port of Nacala.
The minister of agriculture cameto Tokyo to participate in theseminar that discussed financing mechanisms for ProSavana
and the minister of mineral resources was the keynote speaker at the J Summit, an occasion
where many African countries
discussed with the Japanese
government and corporations.
Likewise, the parliamentaryvice minister for foreign affairs
visited Maputo where he held
meetings with his counterparts
to review the status of cooperation, and the president of JICA 
visited Nampula to take stock ofrehabilitation and extension of

the Port of Nacala, financed by
the government of Japan, andthe Nacala Corridor where hewas informed about the work
being done regarding ProSavana.
It is also important to register
the fact that President Guebuza
participated in the TICAD  V,
which took place in early June
this year in Yokohama. This wasan important demonstration of
the importance that our government attaches to our cooperation with Japan in the context ofTICAD. On that occasion President Guebuza held importantconsultations with Prime Minister Abe and other government
authorities of Japan and he also
had a constructive dialogue withleadership of Japanese corporations that have interests in Mozambique.
Cooperation between Mozambique and Japan, which isconducted through ODA, technical cooperation and yen soft
loans, focuses on the provision ofsocial and economic infrastructures, education and health, development of human resources,
capacity building, mitigation of
the effects of climate change, improvement of food security, water and sanitation, science andtechnology and the promotionof business cooperation.
One of the important programs we are jointly implementing in the context of triangularcooperation (Mozambique, Japan and Brazil) is ProSavana, a
program designed to transformthe subsistence producers into
producers of the market throughthe transfer of agro-technologies,
increase income of the small andmedium-size farmers, and to attain self-sufficiency in food production and export the surplus.
ProSavana is part of the PEDSA (Strategic Plan for Agricultural
Sector Development), designedto (i) accelerate the productionof staple foods, (ii) increase income, (iii) ensure access andsecure land tenure and natural resources, (iv) provision ofservices considering the value
chain, (v) promote developmentof zones with high agriculturalpotential and (vi) contribute to
the balance of payments. LikeProSavana, this strategy is also
being implemented in six othercorridors.
The government of Mozambique is satisfied with thesmooth progress of ProSavana,particularly the fact that the Master Plan will be concluded later
this year and it is hoped that full
implementation of the programwill start next year. As part of thepreparation of the implementation of the program the government concluded the mapping of
the covered area and has started
the distribution of title deeds
to all farmers, to ensure a better management of agriculturalland use.
Finally, I would like to thankall the sponsors who made it
possible for the publication ofthis message.

PAGE: 7