This morning, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chile, Heraldo Muñoz, participated in the expanded meeting that the President of the Republic, Michelle Bachelet, held with the President of Mozambique, Armando Guebuza.
At the meeting, the Heads of State reviewed elements that will permit to strengthen bilateral relations and extend them to concrete areas of cooperation on different matters between both nations.
At the end of the meeting, Minister Muñoz, along with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mozambique, Oldemiro Baloi, offered a press conference where they explained the scope of the conversation held by both delegations.
The Chilean Secretary of State manifested the interest of both countries to establish a bilateral cooperation on sustainable exploitation of fishery resources and aquaculture development, mining, and agriculture, in addition to energy cooperation, especially regarding natural gas, of which Mozambique has large reserves. "Chile is a country open to the world; therefore, we have to take advantage of all political and cultural partnership, as well as commercial and business opportunities. Africa is a continent that is growing and changing", the Minister said.
"We have so far fulfilled most part of the agreements, but the Presidents coincided that there is still much to be done. Hence, the Leaders' agreement was to create a working committee to elaborate an Action Plan to continue the cooperation that has existed between the two countries", he added. In this regard, he stated that the idea of "bringing Chilean entrepreneurs to explore into business and trade" was discussed. "Although geographical distance between the two countries is huge, in such an interdependent and global world we can get even closer".
Likewise, he emphasized that "Not only is Africa an increasingly relevant actor of international politics, but also of global economy. It's a region that is growing at very significant rates, the highest ones comparatively speaking", Minister Muñoz explained.
President Guebuza visited our country during the first mandate of President Michelle Bachelet, an opportunity at which both Governments signed three Memoranda of Understanding on cooperation in terms of Women, Fisheries and Aquaculture, and Mineral Resources. In turn, they signed a Cooperation Agreement between the "Andrés Bello" Diplomatic Academy of Chile and the Higher Institute of Foreign Relations of Mozambique.