Speech by President of the Republic Tarja Halonen at a banquet hosted by President Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique and Mrs Chissano on 4.9.2002

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Relations between Finland and Mozambique are good and free of problems. For decades, people in Finland have felt great interest in and sympathy for your country and people. We are closely following the development of Mozambique and actively participating in the work of building a better tomorrow here. Your country is one of Finland's biggest cooperation partners and in the future we intend to channel more development funds into supporting Mozambique.

The tenth anniversary of the signing of the peace agreement in Rome will be next month. Those ten years have seen Mozambique in transition towards a democratic system and market economy. Political stability, strengthening democracy and human rights as well as continuing economic growth are among the goals of every nation, including Mozambique and Finland. I hope Mozambique will continue its work to achieve these goals and I can promise you that Finland will support you in it.

Every country bears the primary responsibility for its own development and its people's wellbeing. The determined and united will of a people and its representatives to build a better future is the foundation for development. Friends can provide support in this process.

We know also that we share our world and that we all need each other. No country or people can be sure of its prosperity and security if other places are suffering great poverty and wars. This sense of affinity and solidarity finds clear expression in the decisions that we made at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. The results achieved there further strengthen our commitment to implement the decision we made at the UN Millennium Summit to free humankind - men women and children - from squalor and extreme poverty.

One central means of overcoming poverty is to develop international trade on a basis of fairness. A point emphasised in the World Trade Organisation's Doha Declaration is the importance in the sector of trade and investment of giving developing countries technical assistance and developing capacity. Finland has decided to increase her support for technical assistance programmes. This opens up better opportunities for developing countries, including Mozambique, to integrate into the global trade system, not forgetting increased trade with neighbours. I urge Mozambique to participate actively in the Doha round of negotiations over the next few years.

For my part, as a co-chair of the ILO's Global Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalisation, I am trying to do everything in my power to ensure that globalisation can be used as an instrument of poverty reduction, economic growth and sustainable development.

Mozambique has been a positive force in preserving stability and promoting development in Southern Africa. I appreciate the active and constructive role that Mozambique has played in making the SADC a stronger and more efficient organisation.

Regional cooperation enhances stability, creates better conditions for social and economic development, increases interaction between peoples and adds to their prosperity. Removing barriers to trade on the regional level increases every country's trade potential and export opportunities, and thus also promotes their access to world markets.

As has been noted in Mozambique's strategy for poverty reduction, education is the foundation for a national development. It should be possible to guarantee all children a basic education. It is also important to provide occupational training so that skilled, motivated and capable persons from among your own people are available to perform the various functions that are essential in a society.

Women are a major resource and must be given the opportunity to contribute fully to the life of society. To increase equality and guarantee equal opportunities, it is especially important to improve opportunities for girls to attend school.

I shall have the great pleasure tomorrow of performing the opening ceremony of a school in Moamba which has been refurbished with Finnish help. The need to build more schools and train competent teachers is still enormous, but also in this sector development is inexorably advancing. The Moamba school is only one small step of development, but will hopefully give many children - both girls and boys - a chance of a better future.

Permit me to raise my glass in a toast to the health of you and your wife and to the good fortune and success of the people of Mozambique!