Acting President Dr Constantino Chiwenga yesterday thanked the outgoing Mozambican Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Francisco Ciggaro for the role he played in cementing cooperation between the two Governments, especially in the energy sector.
Speaking after emerging from a closed door meeting, where he was bidding farewell to the Acting President at his offices in Harare, Ambassador Ciggaro said Dr Chiwenga implored him to follow up and ensure that all the outstanding decisions of the 12th Joint Permanent Commission on Cooperation held in Harare in 2021 were finalised before the convening of the inaugural session of Bi-National Commission by Mozambique on date to be announced.
“The main purpose of my call was to bid farewell to him as I am departing this country at the end of my mission in Zimbabwe.
“Zimbabwe is indeed a very important country for us, we have very excellent relations and historic bonds. It was a very important moment for us to reinforce our relations and bilateral cooperation in various fields like agriculture, infrastructure, energy, transport and health. We really appreciate the stage our cooperation is at right now,” said Ambassador Ciggaro.
“We also talked about the interaction that exists at different levels, emphasising particularly the high level visits between our two countries. I also expressed the commitment of our country to call for the lifting of the unilateral sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe,” he said.
Mozambique is keen to have stronger economic cooperation with Zimbabwe reinforced particularly in areas such as infrastructure development, energy, agriculture, transport and health.
Zimbabwe and Mozambique enjoy excellent relations, which date back to the days of the liberation struggle and under the Second Republic, President Mnangagwa is keen to see Zimbabwe leverage on such ties for the benefit of the economy.
In April 2022, during President Mnangagwa’s State visit to Mozambique, the two countries upgraded bilateral ties through the signing of an agreement establishing a Bi-National Commission (BNC).
Ambassador Ciggaro said interactions on economic cooperation were ongoing at various levels including the private sector.
