In 2002, Nathan conducted a diagnostic study of Mozambique’s trade competitiveness and recommended how Mozambique could integrate trade into its poverty reduction strategy. The study, “Mainstreaming Trade: A Poverty Reduction Strategy for Mozambique,” was presented to representatives of Mozambique’s government and private sector and international donors in a national conference in October 2002. The Minister of Industry and Commerce, Carlos Morgado, strongly endorsed the study, pledging to use it as the blueprint for a reform agenda to be presented to the Council of Ministers.

To follow-up on the study’s conclusions, Nathan helped Mozambique join the WTO’s Integrated Framework, assisted with interministerial coordination of trade policy, and reduced red-tape. Based in the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, we also assisted with

• Trade policy evaluation and formulation,
• Macroeconomic analysis,
• Institutional reform, and
• Training of ministry officials and other stakeholders in trade liberalization.

In consultation with government officials, the Confederation of Mozambican Trade Associations, and USAID/Mozambique, we assisted with competition policy and studies of trade in textiles and garments.

Nathan also managed the follow-on to this project, Mozambique Trade and Investment, which ran from 2005 to 2010.