30 July 2008
Maputo — The Mozambican and Swazi governments on Wednesday pledged to step up bilateral relations between the two neighbours in order to produce more benefits for their citizens.
This was the promise given by the Permanent Secretaries of the Mozambican and Swazi Foreign Ministries, Domingos Muconta and Clifford Mamba, at the opening in Maputo of the third session of the Joint Cooperation Commission between the two countries.
"The relations between Mozambique and Swaziland have very deep roots and go beyond simple good neighbourliness", said Muconta. "Today, our relations take on a dimension of interdependence, a fact that is crucial for our bilateral cooperation, as well as for our common aspirations for peace, stability and regional and continental development".
Cooperation between Mozambique and Swaziland, he continued, covers the areas of international relations, defence and security, immigration, tourism and the management of water resources (the latter is particularly important because the Umbeluzi river, which provides the water supply for Maputo, rises in Swaziland). The challenge now, Muconta said, was to step up cooperation in mineral resources, agriculture and energy.
He recognised that, despite such advances as the abolition of entry visas in 2005, there remains a lot that can be done to step up bilateral relations to the mutual benefit of Mozambicans and Swazis.
Mamba stressed the need to ensure that all decisions emerging from this meeting are implemented. "At the level of international relations, our cooperation is good", he said. "We have been working frequently with the Mozambican High Commission in Swaziland, but we can strengthen still further our relations in other areas".
This meeting is preparing the agenda for a ministerial session of the Cooperation commission to be held on Friday, at which the delegations will be headed by the Mozambican Minister of Public Works, Felicio Zacarias, and the Swazi Foreign Minister, Mathendele Dlamini.
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