An Investment Guide to Mozambique has just been released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). It is the fifth such guide in a collaborative venture that focuses on least developed countries (LDCs) and aims to bring together two parties with complementary interests: firms in search of new locations, and countries seeking new investors.
Mozambique is a good example of an LDC in which the basic constraints on development are being gradually removed by a decisive and reform-minded government that enjoys broad support. With a mostly poor population of 17 million, the Mozambican market is small in itself; however, its integration into the Southern African Development Community (SADC) offers investors easier access to the main market in southern Africa - South Africa - and to the 13 other SADC members. The liberal economic reforms pursued by the government, the almost complete privatization of formerly State-owned enterprises, and a variety of generous incentive schemes have laid the groundwork for profitable investment in such areas as cash crops, manufacturing, financial services and export processing. But the Guide says that improvements are still needed in training, transport infrastructure and administrative efficiency.
The investment guides provide an overview of investment conditions and opportunities and are distributed worldwide through a variety of channels including the national committees of the ICC, outward investment agencies of major home countries, and business and industry associations. They are targeted in particular to small and medium-sized enterprises.
UNCTAD and the ICC are this month beginning work on an investment guide to Nepal, one of eight to 10 other LDCs expected to be covered by the project over the next three years.
The electronic version of this publication will shortly be available on the UNCTAD website and on the IPANET website of the World Bank´s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), www.ipanet.net.
