27 February 2008
Amsterdam — Mozambican President Armando Guebuza arrives in Holland on Wednesday, for a three day official visit during which he will hold political and economic meetings to try and attract more investment to Mozambique, particularly in the areas of water supply and bio-fuels.
Guebuza's delegation on this visit includes 20 business people from private Mozambican companies. At meetings with Dutch businesses, the Mozambican side is expected to present them with a range of business opportunities.
Bilateral cooperation between the two countries currently covers the areas of education, health, and water supply, and also governance, decentralization, gender issues, environment, and development of the private sector.
AIM learnt that the Mozambican government is particularly interested in asking Holland to resume its assistance to the Justice sector. This assistance was interrupted because the Dutch government was not satisfied with the slothful performance of the Mozambican legal system. It was struck off the list of sectors receiving aid from Holland in the 2005-2008 period.
The last joint review of cooperation between the two countries, in April 2007, concluded that despite progress in other areas, such as financial management and service provision, legal reforms were too slow to allow access of all citizens to the justice system.
Cooperation between the two countries is estimated at 58 million Euros (about 81.2 million US dollars) a year, which makes Mozambique the second largest beneficiary of Dutch financial aid in Africa after Tanzania.
About a third of the Dutch financial aid to Mozambique takes the form of direct support for the state budget.
Diplomatic sources, both in Mozambique and Holland, express the hope that Guebuza's visit will contribute to an increase in Dutch financial aid and to encouraging the local private sector to invest in Mozambique.
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