Mozambique President Seeks Support From U.S. Businesses

In an interview with VOA, Guebuza says he hopes to develop the same type of business relations that the countries share at the government level
Washington, D.C., June 22, 2005 -- Mozambique President Armando Guebuza, in an interview with the Voice of America (VOA), urged the United States business community to follow U.S. President George W. Bush's lead in Africa and invest more in the continent.

Speaking Tuesday to VOA's Portuguese Service, Guebuza said he wanted the U.S. business community to "match the type of relations we have at the government level." Guebuza, who is attending the U.S.-Africa Business Summit in Baltimore, said relations between Mozambique and the U.S. government are very good, but at the business level "a lot more can be done."

Guebuza participated in last week's meeting with President Bush and African leaders to discuss plans for economic development for the continent. He said he would like the next summit of the G-8, scheduled in Scotland next month, to agree on further aid for Africa, but he added that investments are necessary to enable African countries "to stand up by themselves."

VOA's Portuguese language service broadcasts 13 hours of radio programming every week to Africa. Programs are available on the Internet at www.VOANews.com/Portuguese.

The Voice of America, which first went on the air in 1942, is a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. government through the Broadcasting Board of Governors. VOA broadcasts more than 1,000 hours of news, information, educational, and cultural programming every week to an estimated worldwide audience of more than 100 million people. Programs are produced in 44 languages, including English.