The VI Portugal-Mozambique Summit will see the participation of Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro and Mozambican President Daniel Chapo, along with two dozen members from both governments.
The Mozambican President highlighted in an interview on Monday that the over 20 agreements to be signed today reflect the “excellent” level of bilateral relations, while calling for tangible investments from Portugal in the infrastructure sector.
The legal instruments to be signed, including cooperation agreements and memorandums of understanding, involve both countries directly — an update to the Strategic Cooperation Program between the two nations is expected — as well as public enterprises from both nations, encompassing new areas such as communications and digital transformation or infrastructure.
The announcement of the VI Luso-Mozambican summit was made in July by the Portuguese Prime Minister following a meeting with the Mozambican President at São Bento, where Luís Montenegro emphasized that the two nations have leaderships that are at the beginning of their terms, capable of bringing renewed vigor to cooperation.
During that occasion, Montenegro expressed the aim to “strengthen the ties of political, institutional, cultural, and economic cooperation” and noted that “there is no better expression of this will to give a new impetus to our relations than by resuming the holding of these bilateral summits,” he added.
In the interview, the Mozambican President also discussed the revision of various immigration-related laws in Portugal, stating that the CPLP [Community of Portuguese Language Countries] concept implies “harmony” and “free movement of people.”
Daniel Chapo stressed that each country can establish its immigration policy “but without forgetting that no one lives and survives in isolation.”
According to data provided on Monday, there are 13,704 Mozambicans living in Portugal, of which 4,673 have regularized residency.
The program for the two government leaders begins at 09:00, with Daniel Chapo and Luís Montenegro being received with military honors at the Porto City Hall before Mayor Pedro Duarte presents the keys to the city to the Mozambican President.
They will then have a private meeting while sectorial ministerial meetings commence at the Palácio da Bolsa, followed by the plenary session of the summit scheduled to start at 11:00, accompanied by the traditional family photo.
The signing of legal instruments and press statements by Luís Montenegro and Daniel Chapo will take place afterward.
The delegations will have lunch at the Port Wine Cellars and return to the Palácio da Bolsa for the Portugal-Mozambique Economic Forum, which will feature speeches from the Mozambican President and the Portuguese Prime Minister.
As per the data provided by the Portuguese Trade and Investment Agency (AICEP), Mozambican goods exports decreased by 25.8% from 2023 to 2024, totaling 26.2 million euros.
As of 2024, Portugal had 1,158 companies exporting to Mozambique, compared to 1,508 in 2020, with more than half (54%) having a turnover between one and ten million euros.
Additionally, about 500 companies in Mozambique have Portuguese capital.
During the fifth Mozambique-Portugal summit in September 2022, in Maputo, 18 agreements and memorandums were signed between the two governments, and the then-Prime Minister António Costa announced a 40% increase in funds for projects under the 2022-2026 Strategic Cooperation Program with Mozambique, amounting to an increase of 90 million euros.
