UK Statement on Mozambique’s 2024 WTO Trade Policy Review

Mr President, I warmly welcome the delegation from Mozambique, led by Mr Silvino Augusto José Moreno, Minister of Industry and Trade. I would also like to express my thanks to colleagues from the WTO Secretariat for their respective reports, to the Chairman, as always, and to our discussant, Mr Li Chenggang, for his insightful remarks.

Economic analysis

1. I would like to thank the delegation and the Secretariat in particular for all the hard work that goes into a Trade Policy Review. The Secretariat and government reports provide invaluable insights into Mozambique’s trade policy and broader economy.

2. Mozambique has been facing several shocks since the last TPR in 2017: climate, COVID-19, ongoing conflict. To accelerate economic growth and reduce poverty, Mozambique is making progress on some key economic reforms, including as part of the IMF program that started in 2022. We were also pleased to read that the government is taking steps to address the recent public sector wage overrun discussed in the reports.

3. I am pleased to say that our development assistance has supported Mozambique’s emergency and humanitarian response, the delivery of basic services, and economic reforms to strengthen domestic revenue mobilization, debt transparency, and state-owned enterprises. These economic reforms were key to the decisions by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the African Development Bank (AfDB) to resume programmatic support in 2022 and 2023.

4. The United Kingdom is very grateful for the insights that Mozambique has provided us through its participation in this important transparency exercise, including their responses to our written questions in advance.

5. They allow us to better understand Mozambique’s trade policy, which in turn allows us to understand how we can work together to further enhance our trading relationship, which has seen rapid growth over the past two years. In 2023, UK exports to Mozambique grew by more than 100%, while our imports from Mozambique increased in value by 175%.

Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) of the Member States of the Southern African Customs Union (SACUM)

1. Close cooperation between our two countries and regional partners has made this rapid growth possible. We are grateful to Mozambique for its constructive work in implementing the SACU-Mozambique-UK Economic Partnership Agreement, which came into force in 2021 and underpins our trading relationship with Mozambique, but also with Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa.

2. The UK is fully committed to the EPA, primarily as a means to increase trade and investment to promote sustainable growth and poverty reduction in Southern Africa. We look forward to holding the first EPA Joint Council and working with Mozambique and SACU partners to take implementation forward and look to deepen the agreement and improve the benefits for businesses and consumers in the UK and Southern Africa.

3. Last month we celebrated the first anniversary of the UK’s Developing Country Trading Scheme. Now in its first year, the DCTS is delivering improved market access to 65 developing countries – home to 3.3 billion people – including Mozambique. Free and open trade is a crucial tool to help Least Developed Countries (LDCs) boost economic growth and support sustainable development, and the DCTS is helping Mozambique to export to the UK and play a more active role in rapidly expanding global supply chains.

WTO

1. Mr President, given the benefits that trade can bring to LDCs, the UK was pleased to see the reports refer to Mozambique’s commitment to upholding the principles of a rules-based, predictable and transparent trading system; and also to hear Minister Moreno’s reference this morning to Mozambique’s objective of creating a stable and sustainable environment for trade. Mozambique’s commitment is evidenced by the important role that global trade plays in the Mozambican economy, with total two-way trade flows ranging between 92.8% and 137.7% of GDP between 2017-23.

2. Mozambique’s constructive work within the WTO itself is also commendable. In particular, the UK welcomes the role Mozambique plays in trade facilitation; Mozambique is a focal point in these important discussions. We look forward to continuing to work with Mozambique within the Committee on Trade Facilitation, to ensure that the WTO continues to work for LDCs and developing countries. We were also pleased to see Mozambique expand its participation in the WTO through the Informal Working Group on Micro Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) and the Dialogue on Plastics Pollution.

3. The UK is also keen to hear more about Mozambique’s efforts to promote inclusive economic development in the future. As one of the co-chairs of the WTO Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender, I would be keen to hear more about Mozambique’s initiatives, in the spirit of sharing best practice and learning in this group.

African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)

1. Mr President, we would like to take this opportunity to commend Mozambique for joining another multilateral body: the African Continental Free Trade Area. The United Kingdom is a strong supporter of the AfCFTA, which has the potential to be a game-changer for intra-regional trade on the continent and, with it, inclusive economic growth and development.

2. The UK was proud to be the first non-African country to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the AfCFTA Secretariat. Through our development assistance, we are working closely to support the AfCFTA Secretariat and Member States in bringing the agreement to fruition.

3. Finally, Mr President, let me thank Mozambique for their full cooperation in this important exercise in transparency. I would particularly like to thank the delegation for their hard work in responding to the UK’s questions, hard work which I hope did not distract them from celebrating the Dia da Independência last week.