Mauritius and Mozambique have renewed their strong commitment into deepening the existing bilateral and economic ties to further enhance engagement in Africa through the signing of three Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) in early February 2019.
The three MOUs relate to:
(i) Environment – in view of enhancing cooperation regarding environment protection and conservation of natural resources;
(ii) Tourism- to enable cooperation in promoting both countries as attractive tourism destinations in addition to technical assistance in the field of tourism marketing as well as facilitating the flow of investment in areas of tourism development;
(iii) the Economic Development Board and its counterpart in Mozambique for establishing practical framework for cooperation with regards trade and investment, trade promotion and strengthen institutional relations and capacity building through mutual cooperation.
An MoU between the State Trading Corporation and its counterpart is also being worked out with regards the supply of Liquefied Natural Gas.
Both countries agreed to operationalise the political consultative committee to enable the two countries to consult each other regarding bilateral and other regional issues of common interest with a keen interest into triggering the Joint Commission between Mauritius and Mozambique.
Mauritian investors are already well present in Mozambique in the fields of financial services, logistics, agri-business, manufacturing and ICT and with new possibilities of joint ventures between Mauritius and Mozambique in different economic sectors including fisheries and financial services.
It is to note that the Mauritian Economic Development Board has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Confederation of Business Associations of Mozambique (CTA) with a view to further consolidating and stimulating trade and investment between the two countries.
Mauritius and Mozambique have, in the past, established several bilateral agreements, including the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) and the Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (IPPA), with a view to boost trade and investment between the two countries.
Article compiled by Roobesh Ramanjooloo, Partner at Mauritian member firm Erriah Chambers
