Your Excellency President Nyusi,
Honourable Ministers;
High commissioners and senior officials,
 
It is a great honour and privilege for us to visit this great country - Mozambique, a country with whom we share historic bonds of friendship and solidarity.
 
These historic bonds were concretely cemented during the period of our struggles against colonialism and apartheid.
 
I wish to thank you therefore Mr President, for inviting us to visit this beautiful country. We also thank you for your generous hospitality extended to me and my delegation.
 
Your fraternal words of welcome have reminded us that Mozambique is our home. Mozambique is indeed our home!
 
Let me from the onset Mr President extend our deepest condolences to you in person, for the death of Mozambican nationals during the recent horrific attacks in our country. We condemned the incidents strongly and continue to do everything possible to ensure that there is no recurrence in our country. Our people came out in huge numbers to demonstrate their strong condemnation of the attacks. Government has also embarked on a long term programme of managing migration better and to promote peaceful co-existence between foreign nationals and nationals.
 
We have also embarked on a month long programme to raise awareness about the sterling contribution of our neighbours and Africa as a whole in the attainment of freedom in our country. We thank you for your understanding during the entire difficult period.
 
Mr President,

Our historic and strategic relations have found true expression in the many areas of cooperation between our two countries over the last two decades. Key in this regard, was our decision in 2011 to elevate our structured bilateral mechanism to an annual Bi-National Commission.
 
The depth and extent of our cooperation is amplified by the existence of over sixty (60) bilateral agreements and memoranda of understanding covering a wide range of sectors including energy, transport, trade and investment, agriculture, environment, water, defence and security, immigration, science and technology, labour, communication, tourism, arts and culture, sport, to mention but a few.
 
While we applaud the existence of these legal instruments which are in their very nature enabling mechanisms, there is nonetheless an urgent need to ensure that they are implemented for the mutual benefit of our two countries and peoples.
 
Our meeting therefore this morning should help us to double the implementation mechanisms.

Our trade and investment cooperation can undoubtedly be expanded further; the opportunity is ripe with potential for expansion and diversification of trade.
 
As a region, we have not only committed ourselves to regional integration but we have taken a step closer to realising our cherished desire to industrialise the region.
 
As SADC, our approval in Harare on 29th April 2015 of the Regional Industrialisation Strategy and the Revised Regional Strategic Indicative Development Plan is a demonstrable and seminal milestone towards regional economic integration.
 
For us to succeed, we must accelerate the involvement of the private sector in this process.
 
We need to see the tangible progress being made towards the implementation of the continental development plan - Agenda 2063.
 
We need to rally our respective countries and citizens behind this grand plan.

Mr President,
 
Conflict and instability continue to impede the political and economic progress of our continent.  We should continue to co-operate closely in conflict prevention, resolution and management, as well as in post conflict reconstruction and development.
 
We are deeply concerned by the ongoing conflicts that are tearing apart the sister countries of Central African Republic, Libya, South Sudan and Somalia.
 
We are equally concerned about the ongoing instability in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The current challenges in Burundi nearly took us by surprised. This requires of us as a Continent to be vigilant and make the necessary interventions timeously. We commend the regional efforts as led by the East African Community.
 
Mr President
 
The need to push for a reformed, democratic and equitable global governance system has become imperative.
 
It is our belief that the 70th Anniversary of the United Nations offers us as citizens of this organisation an opportunity to seriously reflect on the need to reform the United Nations in particular the Security Council.
 
I look forward to our discussions and I firmly believe that we will be able to galvanise our strategic cooperation and partnership.
 
I Thank You.