The private sector calls on the Government to expedite the implementation of reforms aimed at revitalizing the cashew nut processing industry, whose performance is declining sharply by more than 15%.

The expectation is that the reforms can address the low nut production that has so far forced at least ten primary processing plants to close down in the country due to insufficient raw material.

In the opinion of the businessmen, who were speaking in Maputo, during the XVII Annual Conference of the Private Sector (CASP), the Government should create sustainable policies for the protection of the national cashew industry, as happens in countries like India and Vietnam, in which they are subsidized by their Government to compete in the international market.

These are two countries that currently dictate the rules of the game in the foreign market and that hinder the consolidation of the Mozambican processing industry, having determined the reduction of production and, mainly, of exports.

According to the representative of the Association of Cashew Processing Industries, António Valente, the sector needs tax incentives, with emphasis on increasing the surcharge on raw material exports and invoice exemption on all processed almonds.