Mozambique: Italy on display at Maputo International Trade Fair

Rikathla (Mozambique) - In spite of the financial crisis that affects Mozambique in the wake of the suspension of international aid, Italy has maintained its longtime role as one of the greatest exhibitors at the International Trade Fair of Maputo (FACIM), occupying one of the largest pavilions with ten companies in the areas of logistics, energy, oil and gas, agriculture and food. "This year, the number of companies has reduced due to the financial crisis that Mozambique is going through. The crises happen but they are to be dealt over and this happens all over the world. This year, companies are beginning to regain confidence and we expect that in the coming years, as the country's economic prospects improve, the number of Italian exhibitors will grow", said the director of Italian cooperation in Mozambique, Gianni Loreti. 

FACIM is the largest economic showcase of this Southern African nation of 23 millions and is held annually for a week. Participants in the fifty-third edition include exhibitors from 25 foreign countries. According to Chiara Biave, member of the Italian and Mozambican Business Council, the Italian pavilion is managed jointly with the Italian Institute for the Promotion of Foreign Trade (ICE). Among the 10 Italian firms that will be at FACIM, there is for the first a fertilizer company, as the Government of Mozambique proclaimed agriculture as a pillar for economic development. "Italy looks at Mozambique with great interest and the prove of that is our presence here", Loreti said.