President Filipe Nyusi on 29 August opened the 57th edition of the Maputo Trade Fair (FACIM) with the anticipation that the fair will stimulate competition between Mozambican and foreign companies, and open space for mutually advantageous partnerships.
The President declared that there is countless potential in the country's eleven provinces and called on the Mozambican business class to work with determination to draw benefits and take value from the measures to stimulate the economy which he recently introduced.
President Nyusi challenged businesses to back the "flexible markets", taking advantage of the experience brought from Japan, China, and the United States to develop the Mozambican business environment.
According to President Nyusi, entrepreneurs should also take advantage of the value chains of the development corridors in special economic zones where initiatives such as the government's agricultural development programme, Sustenta, stand out.
The country's geographical location, he stated, "places Mozambique as an efficient gateway to the landlocked countries of the hinterland and can also play an important role in relation to Asia and the Far East".
President Nyusi stressed the measures that the government intends to introduce to improve the mobility of people, particularly in obtaining visas for investors including the specialists and technicians essential for production. "Added to this is the integration in the SADC (Southern African Development Community) market and in the African continent by adhering to the agreement on the African Continental Free Trade Area, which has a market of more than 1.3 billion consumers, and the improvements in the business environment by introducing new working platforms in the relationship between companies and the tax authorities", he explained.
FACIM is being held in Marracuene district, 30 kilometres north of the capital. About 2,000 Mozambican and foreign exhibitors are displaying their goods and services, and the fair is expected to attract around 50,000 visitors.
