Bingo Wa Mutarika in Maputo On Official Visit

Maputo — The President of Malawi, Bingo wa Mutarika, arrived in Maputo this Monday for a three-day official visit to Mozambique, to strengthen the existing ties of friendship and cooperation between both countries.

On his arrival at the Maputo International Airport, Mutharika was welcomed by his Mozambican counterpart, Armando Guebuza.

This afternoon, Mutharika will lay a wreath at the Mozambican Heroes' Square, and later in the afternoon, he will meet President Guebuza to discuss issues affecting both countries.

This is the first visit of Mutharika to Mozambique since his reelection during the last presidential elections held last May.

Mutharika has won a parliamentary majority that allows him to decide cooperation projects with Mozambique, a country that shares more than 1,500 kilometers border, on the provinces of Niassa, Zambezi and Tete.

Thousands of Mozambicans and Malawi daily cross the border to, among other activities, develop trade, especially informal trade, which is the exchange of agricultural products.

The main purpose of the visit of Mutharika is to revive and strengthen bilateral cooperation, especially on the economic front, based on complementarity of the economies of both countries.

Guebuza was one of the few Heads of State of Southern Africa region invited to attend the inauguration ceremony of Mutharika.

One of the projects of common interest is called Shire-Zambezi Waterway, vital for the economy of both countries, especially Malawi.

The project aims at reopening the Shire-Zambezi Waterway from an inland port of Nsanje in Southern Malawi to the Indian Ocean Port of Chinde in Mozambique, a distance of approximately 238 kilometers. This will enable barges and medium sea-going vessels to ply between Chinde and Nsanje, thereby providing direct waterway access to the Indian Ocean.

When the project is completed, Malawi will cease to be landlocked within the conventional definition.

The project will also benefit other landlocked countries such as, Burundi and Rwanda that are seeking to reduce costs of transport for both imported and exported goods.