LISBON: Officials from Mozambique and Portugal met in Maputo to study ways to encourage partnerships between entrepreneurs from the two countries in the agro-industrial sector. They attended a meeting organised by the Portuguese Embassy of Portugal along with Mozambican leaders and Portuguese staff from Portugal’s Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade (AICEP) and the Mozambique-Portugal Chamber of Commerce, according to the press. At the meeting the Permanent Secretary of the Mozambican Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Ilídio Miguel recalled that agro-industry is important in the policies of both countries and said he was open to signing new agreements that would enhance the sector.
Portugal’s ambassador to Mozambique, Maria Amélia Paiva, recalled that the agro-industrial sectors of the two countries have great similarities , which allow them to launch strategies to increase production and exports and said legal instruments are being negotiated to streamline relations in the sector. Official figures show that despite the agriculture practiced in Mozambique being mostly subsistence and with little flow to the market, the sector accounted for 20% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
