Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As usual, I remind members, delegates and those in the Public Gallery to ensure their mobile phones are switched off for the duration of the meeting as they cause interference with the recording equipment in the committee rooms, even in silent mode.

It is a great honour for the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade to welcome the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Co-operation Mr. Balói and the delegation from the Republic of Mozambique. We are delighted to welcome them to this meeting.

Diplomatic relations between our two countries were established relatively recently. We opened an office in Maputo in 1996 and the first embassy in 2006. Mozambique's ambassador is accredited from London. The relationship between our two countries has grown very strong, principally founded on Ireland's overseas aid programme. The goal of our aid programme and the identified outcomes are consistent with the Millennium development goals set out by the United Nations. I am particularly glad to see that access to and availability of land and water, two subjects that are very dear to the heart of Irish people, have improved significantly with Ireland's support.

I am pleased to note the great economic strides that Mozambique has made in recent years. This has been reflected in the comments made by the IMF Managing Director, Christine Lagarde when she said: "The gains of the last decade, during which many countries in sub-Saharan Africa saw sustained high rates of economic growth and an impressive reduction in poverty, have been nothing short of remarkable...". That statement from a very powerful woman on a country like Mozambique is great credit to what has been done in the past 20 years since the end of the civil war which tore the country apart. The country has gone from strength to strength. We are delighted and we are also delighted to have such a strong relationship with Mozambique. The State visit during 2006 by our then President McAleese was very important. Equally the State visit by President Emilio Guebuza today will foster stronger relations between our two countries. It is not just the President who is here but he is accompanied by four Ministers and a delegation from parliament. That is evidence of the strength of the relationship between our two countries. It is against this background that President Emilio Guebuza has arrived. I know he has a very busy schedule for the next three to four days.

We are delighted that Mr. Balói is here today. He will make a short presentation which will be followed by a questions and answers session.