Mozambique and Japan Saturday in Yokohama signed an agreement on reciprocal liberalisation, promotion and protection of investments, as part of an official visit to Japan by Mozambique’s president, Mozambican daily newspaper Notícias reported.

The Mozambican Minister for Planning and Development, Aiuba Cuereneia, who signed the agreement on behalf of Mozambique, said that it would allow investments by Japanese companies to increase in Mozambique in a number of economic sectors, particularly infrastructure, agriculture and agro-industry, and technology transfer.

There are currently seven large Japanese groups operating in Mozambique, including Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corp., with interests in the coal sector, and Mitsui and Co, with a stake in Block 1 of the Rovuma basin, where large natural gas deposits have been found.

The Japanese government is also funding reconstruction of the roads between Montepuez and Lichinga and between Nampula, Cuamba and Mandimba, the ProSavana agricultural development programme, in partnership with Brazil, and construction of roads and bridges in the provinces of Zambézia and Tete.

Other areas in which the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is involved in Mozambique include refurbishment and development of the port of Nacala, construction of 150 manual water pumps to promote hygiene, execution of a project to improve rice yields in Nante, Zambézia province, and another project to produce rice and irrigation systems in Chokwé, Gaza province.

Fumio Kishida, Japan’s Foreign Affairs Minister, said that the agreement had been “vehemently requested” by the Japanese private sector, in order to increase and guarantee future investments in Mozambique. (macauhub)