Chinese company invests 230 Million Dollars

The Mayor of Maputo, David Simango and the Executive Director of the Tong Jian Investment Company of China, Cao Hongru, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the construction of a five star hotel in the Maputo neighbourhood of Costa do Sol, and a market for the sale of construction materials.

The investment is worth a total of 230 million US dollars. The greater part of this sum, 150 million dollars, will be spent on building the hotel with around 200 rooms, which should occupy an area of 10 hectares. "The most important thing to note is that this hotel will be a Chinese investment, but with the participation of the city council", said Simango, after the signing ceremony. "The City Council will also have shares in the market for the sale of construction materials".

On the participation of the municipality in both projects, Simango explained "we are involved because we offered the land and transformed our participation into shares in the business".

Asked about the access to the new hotel in Maputo, given the heavy traffic in Costa do Sol, particularly at weekends, Simango acknowledged the problem, and stated that it was the concern of the Government and of other investors. "We are discussing that with the City Council. In addition to the coast road (the normal route for traffic to and from Costa do Sol), there is an alternative, via the Golf Club, that can be used", he said.
David Simango said that work on the hotel should begin in the next six to eight months, according to the agreement. "If that does not happen, the agreement will cease to be valid", he said, "which means that the space allocated for the hotel, can be granted to some other body".

The Mayor said that a third proposal from Tong Jian has not yet been finalized. This concerns the development of the Katembe municipal district, on the opposite side of Maputo Bay from the centre of the city. As part of the Katembe Development Plan, Tong Jian had wanted to build a complex for Chinese workers."We discussed thus and we said it couldn't be a Chinese complex, it would have to be an international complex", said Simango. "We don't want an island solely for Chinese residents".

This project should have also been signed, but in the end it was not included due to issues associated with the construction of basic infrastructures. It is already complete, needing only to iron out some rough edges. For his part, Cao Hongru, head of the Chinese delegation, said his company will do its best to improve the city of Maputo, adding "we welcome the employees and all members of the Maputo city council that want to supervise the work on this project". (AIM)