Landlocked nations look to Mozambique: with a little help from its friends, Mozambique is boosting its economy with major developments and expanding its infrastructure. One of its most important roles will be as a transport provider for its landlocked neighbours, writes James Hall.(Country Update)

GIVEN THE MULTIPLICITY and scale of these projects, the country appears to have a number of friends, or at the very least international financing bodies and investors who see value in Mozambique's growth potential.

A halving of national debt from US$6bn to US$3.3bnb due to the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative and the IMF's Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative freed government funds from serving debt to investing in economy-building schemes.

With economic improvement tied to poverty reduction, there is some evidence that an increase in large job-creating development is bringing social improvement. Crime, for instance, is down 21 per cent nationwide over last year, according to Attorney-General Joaquim Madeira.

Tourists as well as businesspeople are flocking to the country. Assisted by the dropping of visa requirements, visitors arriving from South Africa, for whom Mozambique is its largest African trading partner, increased 34 per cent in 2007 up to May, compared to the same period in 2006.

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With the French government's …