SOUTH Africa will benefit from joint investments in Mozambique which are expected to ignite an economic boom in the impoverished country, Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin said on Thursday. Erwin told an international conference on investment opportunities in Mozambique that closer economic ties with Mozambique are fundamental to South Africa’s transformation into an internationally competitive manufacturing economy. “We think the prospects for Mozambique are very considerable indeed,” he said. “The developments in Mozambique are great for the South African economy and for theirs and we are convinced that in a decade you will see a very different economy in Mozambique.” Market-oriented reforms won Mozambique a record $3,7-billion of debt relief from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday. The move would cut Mozambique’s debt servicing costs to an average of $73-million a year from 1999-2005, from an estimated $169-million without the relief.