This grant is part of the "Mozambique-Ireland Cooperation Strategy" for this period that was launched in Maputo on Monday, and signed by Mozambique's Planning and Development Minister, Aiuba Cuereneia, and the Irish Development and Cooperation Minister, Michael Kitt.
This strategy is essentially aimed at contributing to poverty reduction in Mozambique through support for the development, implementation and monitoring of pro-poor policies.
At the signing, Kitt said that in order to attain these goals the strategy must be based on the three pillars of the Mozambican government's Action Plan for the Reduction of Absolute Poverty (PARPA), namely good governance, human capital and economic development.
The sums committed to the development programme in Mozambique "represent the largest undertakings by Ireland to any of its bilateral partners", said Kitt, adding that health, direct support for the Mozambican state budget, provincial programmes, education, civil society, HIV/AIDS, agriculture, development of the private sector and land mine clearance, are the most important areas of cooperation.
He noted that the pledged amount represents a 90 per cent increase when compared with the 106 million Euros granted for the 2004-2006 period.
AIM learnt on the occasion that the funds will be disbursed in yearly instalments - 43 million Euros in 2007, 48 million Euros in 2008, 54.8 million Euros in 2009, and a further 61.9 million in 2010.
For his part, Cuereneia declared that Ireland "has been granting significant support for vital sectors in the country and for the implementation of the government's five year programme. The Mozambican government has been striving to strengthen and broaden cooperation relations between the two countries".
This is Kitt's first working visit to Mozambique and to Africa, and he will be here until Thursday.
The relationship between Mozambique and Ireland dates back to 1995, and the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1996, when Ireland opened an Embassy in Maputo. The first technical cooperation agreement between Mozambique and Ireland was signed the following year.
SOURCE: AIM
