Trade
Mozambique has recovered incredibly well -within about 20 years- of the nearly two decades of a devastating civil war. It started to reform its trade policy in 1987 with the Economic Rehabilitation Programme which put in place market-based economic policies. Currently, the country is making continuous efforts to liberalize its economy, improve its business environment and investment climate, rebuild its economic infrastructure and invest in people. The recent discovery of natural resources opens up many opportunities for enhanced trade relations between the European Union and Mozambique.
The EU is a major trade partner of Mozambique, being its main export partner (53 % of exports ) and the second import partner after South Africa (21% of imports). After the EU, in 2011, the main other Mozambique trade partners are South Africa (16.2% of exports, 33.7% of imports), China (4.7% of exports, 7% of imports), India (4.8% of imports) and the US (0.7% of exports and 4.63% of imports).
The trade relations between the EU and Mozambique were reinforced by the signature of the interim EPA Agreement in June 2009 along with Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. The interim EPA is already offering duty-free quota-free Market Access into the EU, while Mozambique will liberalize around 80% of its trade with the EU once the agreement is ratified by the Government. Negotiations on services are ongoing.
Mozambique is also part of SADC (Southern African Development Community). In this regard, the EU is fostering the regional integration agenda of the country through its support to the SADC Secretariat but also to the tripartite (COMESA-EAC-SADC) process which is aiming at creating a free trade bloc covering their 26 countries."