Mozambique: Italy invests in agriculture

  1. Posted on Thursday 10 July 2008 - 09:32
    Sam Banda Junior
    Image of Sam Banda Junior
    Sam Banda Junior, AfricaNews reporter in Blantyre, Malawi, photo: Olivier Nyirubugara
    Italy has announced that it would invest in Mozambique particularly in areas of agriculture, tourism and energy among others. The news comes in when the country which is among the poorest in Africa aims at improving its economy, in an effort to recover from years of war.
    vegetable_agriculture
    Several developments went down in the country and the coming in of Italy would help uplift Mozambique.

    Italian deputy economic development minister Adolfo Urso said their ecomomic interests will expand to Mozambique and that they would work in various areas.

    "We want to help build Mozambique and we hope to identify potential co-operation areas with business partners. We are looking at investing in areas such like agriculture, agro-industry, tourism and energy,” said the minister.

    The minister who led a seventy member Italian business delegation said Italy’s interest in the Southern African nation was partly due to its political stability.

    Urso told Reuters Wednesday that Mozambique may become a strategic gateway to a stronger Italian economic presence in southern Africa adding that they have started a development plan to step up trade relations between the two countries.

    The report further said the minister speaking in Mozambique’s capital Maputo was encouraging Italian businesses to invest the Southern African nation as part of a plan to enter other markets in Africa.

    The African continent has become marketable with several countries like China, Japan, India and Turkey among others coming in to invest in Africa which is rich in mineral resources.

    Italy’s interest comes barely a day after the country also moved an inch to import gas powered vehicles from China with an aim of cutting costs on the importation of more fuel.

    A Reuters report said on Monday, Mozambique state-owned fuel company Petromoc signed a U$15 million agreement with Italy's Moncada Energy Group and Mozambican services company 3T Servicos Lda, which will culminate in the establishment of a new agro-industrial venture to produce vegetable oil and biodiesel.

    Mozambique recorded $8 billion in foreign investment last year and recently it announced plans to invest more in tourism to bring in more foreign currency ahead of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

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