| The Mozambican government and the embassies of the five Nordic countries -- Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Iceland -- have organized an international conference in the capital, Maputo, to look at ways to improve their collaboration in promoting inclusive economic growth and social justice. The two-day conference, entitled ""nclusive Growth, Opportunities in Mozambique: Sharing Nordic Experiences", which opened Wednesday, will focus on the themes of "Job Creation and Economic Transformation", "Transparency and Accountability in Natural Resource Management" and "Taxation and State Building". Mozambican Prime Minister, Aires Ali told the opening session that the recent discoveries of natural resources of great economic value, particularly coal and natural gas, deepened his conviction that the country could grow at a faster pace. "These discoveries open opportunities for huge investment, some of which are already underway with others in the pipeline," said Ali.
However, he warned that the situation also posed many challenges which included the need to create jobs and transform the economy, and the need for transparency and accountability in the management of the natural resources.
He stressed that the debate about these mega projects should not divert attention away from small and medium-sized companies, which were a significant source of job creation.
The Prime Minister warned that the recent announcements on discoveries of natural resources had created enormous expectations among Mozambicans, who were eager to see their living conditions improve.
He stressed the need to inform the people about the process and time horizon between discovering a resource and its exploitation and acknowledged that managing these expectations was a major challenge for the government.
The collaboration of non-state actors in this exercise was very important so that everyone could enjoy the gains from the exploitation of these resources in peace.
(BERNAMA-NNN-AIM) | 
Akershus
