REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE RECEPTION IN HER HONOUR HOSTED BY H.E. MR. LÁZARO VICENTE
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE RECEPTION IN HER HONOUR HOSTED BY H.E. MR. LÁZARO VICENTE, GOVERNOR OF INHAMBANE
Sua Excelência, Senhor Governador da Província de Inhambane,
Distintos membros do Governo de Moçambique,
Minhas senhoras e meus senhores.
É una grande prazer e honra para mi e minha delegação estar aqui com todos voces esta noite na Provincia de Inhambane e, no especial, na marvelliosa cidade de Vilanculos.
It is a great pleasure and honour for me and my delegation to be here this evening in Inhambane Province and in the spectacular setting of Vilanculos.
So far today I have had the pleasure of visiting the provincial capital, the village of Cumbana in Jangamo District and now this evening, Vilanculos. We have found a warm welcome and great friendliness everywhere and a strong knowledge of Ireland, clear evidence of the strong, positive working partnership between our two countries.
I am another one of those visitors who has been overawed by the unspoiled beauty of this province, the spectacular coastline of endless, near deserted beaches, the timeless countryside with its magnificent trees, the tall coconut, knarled cashews and spreading mangoes. Inhambane’s reputation as a very attractive tourism destination is easy to understand.
Yet amidst nature’s great beauty it is also easy to see the challenges the government and people of Mozambique are facing. Poverty and exclusion from opportunity are the dominant challenge for Mozambique and Inhambane and Ireland is very glad to be part of the fight against poverty in this country and to be witnesses to the huge progress being made here from which comes hope and faith in a better future for Mozambique’s children.
I know that Mozambique and this province of Inhambane in particular was for much of the 20th Century the hub of the global cashew industry. It is heartening to see that industry making a strong comeback and I commend those who contributed to the re-establishment of the cashew nut processing factory in Cumbana in Jangamo District, which I saw today. What is especially encouraging is the story of success of one young entrepreneur who with support from our two governments and an agency which we fund and which is skilled in expertise transfer, has shown that it is possible to reverse decline and to generate fresh opportunity. Three hundred people from the Cumbana area are now employed and rural farmers sell their cashew locally at favourable prices. The impact of those jobs and that trade on the wider community and on enhanced prospects for the next generation is considerable. Surely here is a story that Ireland and Mozambique can take considerable shared pride in and hope from. This is development work at its most effective.
Senhor Governador da Província de Inhambane; minhas senhoras e meus senhores
A short few decades ago Ireland was one of the poorest countries in Europe. Today we have one of the highest per capita incomes in the world. We are proud of this transformation but it has not dampened in any way our centuries old concern for and work for the poor in other parts of the world. We know there is no one size fits all answers to poverty or one simple universal key to prosperity. Each region, each country, has its own complexion and perspective but many countries with ambitions to transcend poverty are intrigued by Ireland’s story and anxious to understand the dynamics of our success in the hope that there are elements which might be useful in their battle against under-development. So for a moment I will talk a little about those dynamics.
It is clear, for example, that our growth over the last decades has been fuelled by policies solidly focused on employment generation – employment generation in rural and urban areas through a focus on tourism development, small and medium size enterprise promotion, foreign direct investment and government support to the agricultural sector. It is also the case that we benefited from a large development programme in the form of high aid inflows from the European Union to build and renovate our infrastructure and to underpin the improvement in our education and health services. Our investment in our people has also been key for the widening of access to second and third level education and has been crucial in harnessing that great natural resource brain power, people power. Not only has this combination led to economic growth, it has also gladly prompted the return to our country of many people who left our shores in recent decades in search of opportunity denied them at home.
So, in our case, the combination of a clear strategy on where we wished to go complemented by generous assistance from outside and strong management systems, worked well for our development. There were other factors too. Investors, who were central to our strategy, do not venture their funds unless they have clearly defined risks and robust forms of redress of disputes. So there is a third factor of governance and transparent systems of government at all levels.
These then were the factors contributing to our development. Obviously it was and is a more complex process involving, for instance, shifting the emphasis of inward investment to people rather than machines by making an educated and skilled workforce one of the main magnets for foreign investors. But they were the key elements and clearly there are parallels for a country like Mozambique with its resources of people, land and mineral wealth, with a large neighbouring market and with a solid reputation for stability and progress.
I can say, on behalf of the Irish Government and people, that we are committed to helping Mozambique realise this enormous potential. Our development programme is the largest of our country programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa and, in the deliberations underway on negotiating a new strategy for the next four years, it is hoped to increase the programme still more.
This visit has highlighted some of the many positive stories in Mozambique, stories like the resurgence of the cashew industry, the large foreign investments, the progress in treating AIDS sufferers and supporting them as productive members of society. My hope is that, at the end of this visit, we together will have helped to acquaint a wide audience with the manifestly huge potential of Mozambique and the ambition of its leaders and people to realise that potential to the fullest.
Senhor Governador da Província de Inhambane; minhas senhoras e meus senhores
I am delighted that my visit to Mozambique includes a stop in one of its most beautiful provinces. What I’ve seen demonstrates how very far Mozambique has moved on from its low-point at the end of the civil war. A new era has begun in which, with solid leadership at the centre and in the provinces, the process of development is underway. I look forward to seeing more of your wonderful Inhambane Province in my time here.
Finally, on behalf of my delegation, my husband Martin and myself, I thank you for your welcome and kindness to us today and especially for your wonderful hospitality tonight in such a beautiful setting. To all those who helped prepare such a welcome - many thanks.
Boa noite a todos e muito obrigada.