Portugal is going ahead with a fourth phase of the Mozambique Island cooperation cluster, a wide-ranging set of projects, from education and social support to tourism, to support the development of the historic municipality, according to an official source.

"Our aim is to move on to the fourth phase of this 'cluster' (set of projects) of cooperation," working "together with the Mozambican authorities," the Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Francisco André, told Lusa.

This is the island where the Portuguese discoverer Vasco da Gama arrived 525 years ago on his way to India, and where the country's first capital was born.

It is located in the province of Nampula and is connected to the mainland by a three-kilometer bridge.

The island was declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1991, with a lot of built heritage (but in need of requalification) on one half of the island and precarious neighborhoods on the other, reflecting the poverty of the majority of residents.

"This 'cluster' has helped to renew the heritage and, above all, has allowed the economic and social development of the population," representing "a distinctive brand", a type of integrated intervention that Portuguese cooperation has "nowhere else in the world", Francisco André pointed out.

A benchmark example in Portugal's dialog with other countries and one that the local authorities consider "a success", he added.

Now that it has entered the final year of the third phase, an evaluation is taking place for the two countries to plan the next stage, which will never be less than four years, "because these projects need time to demonstrate their results".

"Our goal is that by the end of the year, and also under our Strategic Cooperation Program, we can enter a new phase, see if we can maintain or add sectors of activity and if we can increase the financial volume," said Francisco André.

The Mozambique Island cluster was launched by Portuguese cooperation with the Mozambican authorities in 2011 and has already been funded with a total of seven million euros, of which 73% was disbursed by Camões, the Institute for Cooperation and Language.

The third phase (2019-2023) represents around half of the total funding and supports six different components, with a strong focus on education and training.

Support for pre-school education receives the largest share, followed by educational and training reinforcement at the Ilha de Moçambique Medium Polytechnic Institute (IMPIM).

This institution is in the final stages of installing "a kitchen laboratory", part of a strategy to invest in equipment and materials in the areas of Hospitality and Tourism.

Another structural component of Portuguese cooperation on the island is institutional and development support for the municipality, with projects to promote tourism, develop town planning and solve problems of poor sanitation.

The cluster also benefits the Mozambique Island Conservation Office (GACIM) as well as a package of social, entrepreneurial and civil society empowerment actions that include the promotion of literacy and traditional arts and crafts.

The next phase will result "from a well-articulated dialog between Mozambique and Portugal," said the Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.

"Mozambique indicates what the objectives are and, as a result of this dialog, we set the goals and the implementation mechanisms to achieve them," he concluded. (Lusa)