A Diagnostic Trade Integration Study, 2004

Mozambique has registered remarkable achievements over the past decade in growth, stabilization, and reform. Yet the country is still one of the poorest in the world. To lift its citizens from poverty, Mozambique must continue to grow rapidly over the next decade.

Such growth will depend very much on exports because the country’s internal market is too small and the purchasing power of Mozambicans insufficient to spur growth through domestic demand alone.

Even in countries with large domestic markets, exports drive growth by attracting investment, stimulating innovation, and compelling efficiency.

The challenge, then, is to develop a strategy that will help Mozambique achieve rapid export growth while ensuring that such growth provides economic opportunities and higher incomes for the poor.

The position of this study is that international trade must be integral to Mozambique’s strategy to sustain rapid growth and reduce poverty.