China to build business centre

China is to start construction of a 12-storey business centre in Maputo in the next four months, PANA reported at the weekend.

The centre, to be called the Chinese Investment Promotion Centre, will comprise offices, exhibition rooms and residences and is part of a drive to strengthen economic relations between Mozambique and China, the reports said, adding that the first eight floors would cost US $2 million.

Chinese companies have recently completed a new parliamentary building for Mozambique and have launched the foundation stone for a new foreign ministry headquarters, while an agreement was signed between the two countries for the building of a military village in Maputo.

Meanwhile, the Dutch government announced at the weekend that it will provide US $1 million to the Mozambican government to fund the operations to remove a ship that sank in the northern port of Nacala during a cyclone in 1994.

The ship, “Dona Tina” was carrying sacks of cement as part of its cargo when it sank, and is reportedly posing danger to other ships using the port. The state-owned ports and railways company, CFM, had reportedly failed to re-float the ship in an attempt to move it out of the way. The vessel will now be dismantled and removed bit by bit in an operation scheduled to start in January.