A Mozambican delegation has travelled to Brazil as the two countries strengthen cooperation on supporting small businesses and boosting their economies, reports Portuguese digital news outlet Notícias ao Minuto.
Led by Féliz Pedro Malate, director-general of the Institute for the Promotion of Small and Medium Enterprises (known by the Portuguese abbreviation IPEME), the delegation travelled to Brazil “to strengthen bilateral cooperation in support of small businesses and entrepreneurship,” according to a ministry statement.
There they are conferring with the Brazilian Service of Support for Micro and Small Enterprises (SEBRAE, after its Portuguese initials), sharing experiences and best practices in public policies, business training, modernization of the business environment, and the strengthening of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, “considered one of the main drivers of the Mozambican economy.”
“Today, a small entrepreneur can become a major industrial player in their own environment and drive local growth, as we have seen here in Brazil. This is also important for stimulating specific local economies in Mozambique,” Décio Lima, president of SEBRAE, highlighted after meeting his Mozambican counterpart.
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Agenda topics for the mission, which wraps today, included management of SEBRAE resources and implementation of Brazil’s General Law to Support Small Businesses, which served as the inspiration for Mozambique’s Statute of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. Such cooperation dates back to the creation of IPEME in 2008, done with the support of SEBRAE.
The two also discussed entrepreneurial cities, planning, management and service intelligence, productive value chains and support for rural producers, and the Pró-Catadores project, a trash-to-treasure initiative highlighted at last year’s COP30.
Last month, Brazil committed to supporting Mozambique in accelerating compliance with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, hosting a delegation from the Mozambican Ministry of Planning and Development. The mission met with Brazilian entities in data production and multisectoral coordination, aiming to strengthen implementation, monitoring and reporting of progress on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Bilateral relations, which dropped off under Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s far-right predecessor, reignited with Lula’s trip to Maputo last November. The leftist president signed a raft of legal instruments across various areas, reaffirming renewed engagement as the two marked 50 years of bilateral ties.
