BRAISLIA: The value of exports from Mozambique to Brazil, which is less than 1 percent of the total, shows that Mozambican companies have been investing little in internationalization, the vice president of the Confederation of Economic Associations of Mozambique said in Maputo.
Agostinho Vuma, who was speaking during the opening ceremony of a seminar on business opportunities between Brazil and Mozambique Monday in Maputo, called for companies to focus on their technical and financial capacity in order to compete on an equal footing with foreign competitors investing in the country.
Vuma also said it was necessary for investments that have been made in Mozambique to benefit national companies first, which could be achieved through partnerships, joint ventures and technology transfer, “because only then will more jobs be created.”
Sabrina Ferraz, regional director of the Brazil-Mozambique Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agri-livestock, said that between 2009 and 2013 trade between the two countries grew by 34.8 percent, while the Brazilian investment in Mozambique totalled US$9.5 billion in the last decade.
Mozambique is one of Brazil’s biggest trading partners in Africa, with higher exports than the average Brazil sends to the rest of the world, or 27 percent, Ferraz said noting that in March 2014 the two countries signed a cooperation and investment facilitation agreement to promote the internationalization of companies.
The seminar was part of Brazil Week in Mozambique, which was attended by representatives of 40 Brazilian companies who travelled to Mozambique to find out about the business opportunities the country has to offer.
