Mozambican Prime Minister Luisa Diogo said in Maputo on Wednesday that the government is confident that the World Bank will continue its support to the country's Action Plan for the Reduction of Absolute Poverty (PARPA).
Addressing the opening of a meeting on revising the World Bank's portfolio of projects in the country, Diogo said that, thanks to funding from the Bank, Mozambique's development had gained new impetus. She said that during the last 20 years of cooperation between the Mozambican government and the World Bank, the two parties had signed agreements worth about 2.5 billion US dollars for projects and programmes in priority areas.
There are currently 16 investment projects, worth about 810 million US dollars under way, and others are on the table. The latter include World Bank support for the fight against AIDS, and for reforms in the financial and legal sectors.
"In the context of this cooperation, the World Bank has been supporting health care, the development of infrastructures, agriculture and rural development, good governance, macro-economic management, the private sector, and the environment", said Diogo.
She said that these priorities "are in line with the government's strategy for the relief of absolute poverty and the promotion of economic growth".
The participants to the meeting discussed the implementation of the projects sponsored by foreign resources approved by the World Bank, trying to find the best way of making the maximum benefit.
This is a continuous process, whereby the Mozambican government has been consulting with the World Bank to try and find solutions to overcome difficulties that arise in the implementation of various projects.
"We noted with satisfaction that, with the experiences we are gaining at every step of our relationship, our cooperation is becoming ever stronger", said Diogo.
As one of the positive aspects of this relationship, she mentioned the World Bank's openness in its dialogue with the government and with civil society during the consultations.
"No less important is the role of the World Bank, in coordination with the International Monetary Fund, in the process of mobilizing international partners to take a more positive attitude in support of the country's economic development and in the initiative to reduce Mozambique's foreign debt", she said.
Fonte: AIM
