Statement for SARA Rail Conference & Exhibition 2023
I wish to express my warmest greetings to all SARA Members, partners and the public in general!
Welcome everyone to SARA RAIL 2023, an event that we intend to bring together all stakeholders in the rail transport chain, including investors, service providers, where we discuss strategies and perspectives for the success of our activity in favor of the development of our countries.
The company I represent – Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique (CFM), we operate in the 3 regions of our country connecting South Africa (through the Ressano Garcia Line); Eswatini (via the Goba Line); Zimbabwe (via the Limpopo and Machipanda Lines) and Malawi (via the Sena Line).
In addition to the railway service, our company operates in the port sector, thus providing complementary transport logistics services across Southern Africa.
As a member of SARA and seeking to correspond to our Governments’ transport strategies, CFM has been making efforts to guarantee and maintain this connectivity between countries.
Among the various projects in this sense, we highlight the following:
- the Ressano Garcia Line Duplication project (near completion);
- Machipanda Railway Line Rehabilitation Project (almost completed);
- Mutarara/Vila Nova da Fronteira Branch Reconstruction Project (this has already been completed and is just awaiting the completion of the Malawian counterpart).
In the same context, we can highlight the memorandum signed between CFM and Transnet Freight Rail and Eswatini Railways aiming at free circulation of trains between Mozambique – South Africa and Mozambique – Eswatini, for the exchange and free circulation of rolling stock towards the optimization of train operations 3 Railway companies and respond to the challenges of the logistics chain in the Southern African Region recommended in the SADC Protocol for Transport, Communications and Meteorology.
Therefore, these and other actions constitute the objective of SARA’s existence.
All stakeholders from the railway industry will be present at this Forum to share knowledge and experiences with a view to improving railway performance and contributing to the economic development of the Region.
I am accompanied by a multi-sector team with the aim of finding new partners and meeting old partners for another exchange of experiences with a view to the successful development of our activity.
Therefore, dear SARA RAIL CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION participants, we are waiting for you at this great event of the Southern African railway family!
Thank you all!