The President of the Republic of Mozambique, Mr Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, paid a state visit to Mauritius from 30 January to 2 February 2019. Heading a 25-member delegation, the Mozambican President was the Chief Guest of the Government of Mauritius on the occasion of the country’s Commemoration of the 184th Anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery.

The high-level visit was an occasion for Mauritius and Mozambique to further deepen their long-standing bilateral relations. On 31st January, the two countries signed three Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) pertaining to cooperation in three spheres, namely: 1) Environment – for enhanced cooperation in the field of environment protection and the conservation of national resources; 2) Tourism – for the promotion of both countries as tourism destinations, as well as technical assistance in tourism marketing and the facilitation of investments in the field of tourism development and; 3) between the Economic Development Board (EDB) of Mauritius and its counterpart in Mozambique, for the establishment of a practical framework for cooperation with regards to trade and investment, trade promotion, the strengthening of institutional relations and capacity building. It is to be noted that an MoU regarding to the supply of Liquefied Natural Gas between the State Trading Corporation of Mauritius and its counterpart is also in preparation.

Mauritius and Mozambique established bilateral relations 25 years ago. The two countries signed a Double Taxation Avoidance Treaty in 1997, which was ratified on 8th May 1999. A number of Mauritians have invested in Mozambique in the fields of financial services, logistics, agri-business, manufacturing and ICT. Mauritius requested the support of Mozambique in the field of heritage and mutual management in view of the future Intercontinental Slavery Museum to be set up in Mauritius, as well as heritage management. The Mauritius side also called for a concerted effort in regional cooperation such as the Indian Ocean Rim Association, the Southern African Development Community as well as on piracy issues off the Somalian Coast so as to address effectively problems related to maritime security, illegal drug trafficking by sea route and illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing.

On his part, the Mozambican President called for Mauritian expertise in Small and Medium Enterprises, the Double Tax Agreement, facilitating private sector investment, fight against drug trafficking, training, education and expressed the intent that the slavery route from Mozambique be known to the future generations. He also invited Mauritian investors to further tap into opportunities in his country.