Africa-Press – Mozambique. The President of the Republic, Daniel Chapo, and King Mswati III of Eswatini expressed their firm commitment to strengthening the historic ties of friendship, solidarity and cooperation between the two countries in Mbabane on Monday, focusing on concrete initiatives in the areas of infrastructure, energy, trade and economic development.
In joint statements at the end of a private meeting between the two heads of state and official talks between the delegations of Eswatini and Mozambique, President Chapo began by highlighting the symbolism of the meeting, the first since his inauguration in January, and then stressed that the occasion allowed for deepening existing and historic relations of friendship, solidarity and cooperation, as well as sharing the exchange of views on aspirations, projects, dreams, interests and perspectives.
President Chapo revealed that the talks between the delegations from both countries took place in an atmosphere of “great friendship, openness and cordiality”, having been preceded by a meeting with the Queen Mother, Ntfombi Tfwala. “It was a unique moment, where we received the teachings of a mother to her son on how we should continue to cultivate and cement the friendship between Eswatini and Mozambique,” President Chapo said.
The Mozambican president also announced the reactivation of the Joint Cooperation Commission between Mozambique and Eswatini, whose fourth session will take place in Maputo in the coming days.
Among the topics agreed upon are the promotion of projects in the development corridor stood out, including proposals for joint exploration of natural gas.
“We spoke about the need to work at the level of the development corridor […]. We can also consider the possibility of pipelines for the export of gas to neighbouring countries, including Eswatini,” President Chapo said.
In turn, King Mswati III congratulated the President of the Republic on his election and praised the fact that the visit took place so early in his term.
“We are happy that as soon as you took office as the new President of Mozambique, you found space in your work programme to come and visit us,” he said. He considered the visit a sign of commitment to strengthening bilateral relations: “We are neighbours, we share a lot in common […], there is always something new that we learn from each other.”
King Mswati III and President Chapo highlighted the importance of government involvement in creating conditions for the private sector and combating unemployment.
“We need to invite other investors and I was very happy to hear that [the President of the Republic] had a meeting in which he spoke with businessmen from Mozambique and Eswatini,” King Mswati said, encouraging the deepening of business cooperation.
Both leaders highlighted the need to improve regional infrastructure. The King of Eswatini valued the strategic role of the Port of Maputo and cooperation in the energy sector.
President Daniel Chapo thanked Eswatini for its support to the Mozambican communities living in the country and concluded: “We will grow together, we will develop together, because Mozambique is Eswatini, Eswatini is Mozambique.”
The meeting between the two heads of state symbolizes the relaunch of the bilateral partnership with a practical approach and tangible results.
The technical teams from both countries have already been mandated to begin implementing the decisions taken in the coming weeks, with regular annual meetings planned to monitor the progress of the joint projects.
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