Mozambican president Daniel Chapo on Monday described Portugal as a “friend” of Mozambique’s development and said that the two countries would be “families forever”. “No one develops alone, we need friends. And Portugal is one of those friendly countries that will continue to establish economic relations with Mozambique and, by creating jobs, generate income for Mozambican families,” said Chapo at a meeting in Porto with the Mozambican community living in Portugal, which brought together more than a hundred people.
The head of state is in Porto for a working visit that includes, this Tuesday, the sixth Portugal-Mozambique Bilateral Summit, as well as a Business Forum between the two countries, with around 500 participants, which Daniel Chapo said will be “very important”. “Also to our Mozambican brothers, who can invest in Portugal,” he said, on the importance of this forum. He added that the summit — the last one was in Maputo in 2022 — is taking place “in such a special year for Mozambique”, commemorating 50 years of independence, and aims to strengthen relations between the two countries.
“Mozambique and Portugal are two sister countries, united not only by language but by ties of familiarity, between countries but also between people,” said Chapo, adding: “Families are being born that make us two countries, families forever.” Our goal on this visit is to further strengthen our relations of friendship and cooperation with Portugal, between Portugal and Mozambique,” he insisted. According to data presented at the event, the latest official statistics from this year indicate that 13,704 Mozambicans live in Portugal, of whom 4,673 have been granted legalised residence. The Mozambican community present at the meeting recalled that this was the first visit to Porto by a President of Mozambique in 26 years, after the inauguration of the consulate in the city by the then Head of State Joaquim Chissano.
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The community admitted to the Mozambican president that they faced difficulties in Portugal in terms of “recognition of qualifications”, access to opportunities and “significant bureaucracy”. The implementation of a Mozambique Cultural Centre in Portugal, to host shows and celebrations, “instead of expensive hotels”, was one of the community’s requests to Daniel Chapo, as well as the provision of “more scholarships” to study at Portuguese universities, including in the areas of health, civil aviation, defence and journalism. They also called for improvements to the justice system in Mozambique, a “transparent” electoral system and more Mozambican citizens to exploit natural resources. In response, Daniel Chapo guaranteed that teams would be sent from Mozambique to reinforce the issuance of documents at consulates in Portugal, including the issuance of Mozambican driving licences, another of the needs identified by the community.
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