Maputo — Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau have pledged to strengthen bilateral cooperation, and promote business exchanges for the economic growth of both countries.
This commitment was made on Wednesday, during the first day of a visit to Mozambique by the president of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Sissogo Embalo, in response to an invitation from his Mozambican counterpart Filipe Nyusi.
A legal instrument intended to stimulate co-operation between the two countries was signed by Mozambican Foreign Minister Veronica Macamo, and her Guinean counterpart, Carlos Pinto Ferrão.
Speaking at a joint press conference, alongside the Guinean President, Filipe Nyusi stressed that the relations between Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique go back to the struggle in both countries for liberation from Portuguese colonial rule.
"We addressed the current stage of the fight against terrorism in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration process of Renamo's residual force, the fixing of military pensions, the functioning of the legislative, executive and judicial bodies and the performance of the economy', said Nyusi.
He announced that the next phase includes the creation of a Joint Commission between Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau to share experiences, especially in agriculture, mining and energy.
For his part, Umaro Embalo said his trip to Mozambique was in solidarity with the Mozambican people who have been the target of terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado.
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"In the working session that President Nyusi and I had, we relaunched relations between Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique', Embalo said.
Embalo said the time had come for both governments to start promoting exchanges in the business, cultural, academic and sporting fields. Diplomatic dialogue, he added, remains an essential tool for dealing with the international situation.
"I'm referring, for example, to the unavoidable challenges of preserving international peace and security, which involve the peaceful resolution of conflicts. Other challenges are the fight against terrorism, transnational organized crime, environmental issues, combating climate change and its effects', he said.
On Thursday, the Guinean President will visit some economic companies and the Assembly of the Republic, the Mozambican parliament.
The two opposition parties, Renamo and the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), are threatening to boycott Embalo's visit, and objected to the Maputo Municipal Assembly's symbolic awarding to the Guinean President of the keys of the city.
Last December, Embalo illegally dissolved the Guinean parliament, which he regarded as a focus of destabilisation. MDM leader Lutero Simango, cited in Thursday's issue of the independent daily "O Pais', called Embalo "a dictator who injures all the principles of democracy'.
"We cannot take part in a ceremony to receive a president who is preventing a parliament from functioning', said Simango. "When a country doesn't have a parliament, it cannot be described as a democracy'.
Under its current president, Guinea-Bissau had set "a bad example which Mozambique should accept', the MDM leader stressed. "We are in favour of good governance, and good governance means respect for transparency, and the principles and values of the rule of law'.
