Strategic partnership to be consolidated at summit

South Africa and Mozambique are set to consolidate their strategic, diplomatic and economic relations at an upcoming bilateral meeting. President Thabo Mbeki and his Mozambican counterpart, President Joaquim Chissano, will co-chair the SA-Mozambique Heads of State Economic Bilateral summit in Pemba, Mozambique, on 27 August. The forum was established in 1997 to discuss strategic projects between the two countries. John Stremlau, head of the department of international affairs at South Africa's University of the Witwatersrand, told IRIN the bilateral meeting was "a good example of what the New Partnership for Africa's Development [NEPAD] is all about". The agenda for the upcoming summit will focus on: cooperation on labour and migratory matters; transport and communications issues, including the Maputo Airport Concession and rehabilitation of the Sena railway; energy issues such as the natural gas pipeline project of South African company, Sasol, in Mozambique, and the Northern Mozambique Power Development Initiative. Environment and tourism development projects such as the cross-border Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park will also be addressed, as well as trade and industry spatial development initiatives - the Beira, Zambezi and Nacala development corridors - and an economic cooperation agreement. "It's all about ensuring that we are able to create a better life for both Mozambicans and South Africans," said South African Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Nomfanelo Kota. The current relationship between the two countries evolved out of Mozambique's assistance to the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, and conversely the role the apartheid regime played in supporting the former Mozambican rebel group, RENAMO. "There's some historic gratitude for what Mozambique incurred [during apartheid]," Stremlau noted. He added that "South Africa is sensitive to Mozambique's dignity, but on the other hand the presence of South African economic investment is enormous, that's why the [economic cooperation] agreement is important - you would want to ratify a sense of partnership". "It is a demonstration of the way neighbours should be working effectively together; [of] neighbours developing a capacity to work with each other, even though there are tremendous differences in terms of size and power - the economy of Mozambique is about the size of an average South African town - yet they exude a true sense of partnership," Stremlau noted. While Kota added that "for the purposes of NEPAD, partnerships in the region are quite important; relationships have to be consolidated first between neighbours". Indeed, this partnership was underscored by the fact that in recent years South Africa has become Mozambique's largest trading partner. "South Africa and Mozambique's economic relationship is the strongest in the Southern African region. Current investment by South Africa in Mozambique totals approximately US $4 billion. Trade between the two countries is also on the increase, with 57 percent of Mozambique's imports emanating from South Africa (18 percent of South Africa's exports to Africa)," a South African government statement noted. "About 26 percent of Mozambique's exports are destined for South Africa. These figures render South Africa Mozambique's largest foreign direct investor and trade partner," the statement added. Kota noted, however, that trade benefits were skewed in favour of South Africa as the more developed partner. The role South African companies could play in Mozambique's development was highlighted by the chemical and fuel company, Sasol. "The South African Natural Gas Pipeline Project is proceeding well and is on schedule. Arrival of the gas in Secunda, South Africa, [from its point of origin in Mozambique] is scheduled for February 2004. Sasol is highly valued and respected in Mozambique. The company's operations and social development projects are considered by the Mozambican government as a sterling example of corporate citizenship," the SA government statement said. The value of the project, bringing Mozambican natural gas to South Africa along an 865 km pipeline, is expected to exceed US $1 billion, according to Sasol's website.