LUSAKA, Dec. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Four southern African countries, namely, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania Wednesday signed an agreement on the launch of the Mtwara Development Corridor, an initiative aims to boost development through improved integration of infrastructure.

    According to the official Zambia News Agency, President Levy Mwanawasa of Zambia, Bingu wa Mutharika of Malawi, Joachim Chissano of Mozambique and Tanzania's Benjamin Mkapa appended their signatures to the agreement at a historic ceremony held in Lilongwe, capital of Malawi.

    The Mtwara Development Corridor initiative, conceived as early as in 1998, was launched to promote trade and investment in the four neighboring countries by improving and integrating roads, electricity and other infrastructure.

    Projects identified under the initiative include a bridge spanning 600 meters across Ruvuma River at Mtambaswala Negomaro onthe Tanzania/Mozambique border, an oil pipeline from Mtwara on theTanzanian coast to Mbamba Bay on Lake Malawi near the border of Malawi, Tanzania and Mozambique.

    Other projects include the interconnection of power grids of Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania, and the construction of a road from Karonga in Malawi to Chitipa on the Zambia/Malawi border, and thenstretching along the Zambia/Tanzania border from Nakonde to Mpulungu.

    Speaking shortly after the signing ceremony, Zambian president Mwanawasa said the Mtwara Development Corridor initiative is line with the Southern African Development Community's policy of promoting cross-border trade through the integration of transport networks.

    He was quoted as saying the initiative will benefit Zambia's Eastern, Northern and Luapula provinces by promoting the development of local agriculture, fishery, tourism and mining sectors.

    As a land locked country, Mwanawasa said Zambia will continue to pursue a policy of promoting regional cooperation as the only way to increase utilization of the existing transit transport infrastructure and institutional capacities hence improving operational efficiency of all transport modes.

    Host President Bingu wa Mutharika stressed that the success of the corridor will largely depend on strong private sector participation.

    For the corridor to be meaningful to the people of the four nations, he said there is need to remove bottlenecks that hinder the flow of economic activity between the four countries.

    Mutharika pledged his country's full commitment to the initiative, saying that Malawi will play its part in ensuring thatthe initiative makes positive contribution towards better lives for people in the region. Enditem