Attracting more Angolan companies and investors to Portugal, which can be a gateway to Europe, is the common goal of the two countries, which aim to revive the creation of the Portugal-Angola Investment Observatory.
The intention was expressed by the Secretary of State for the Economy, João Neves, after a meeting with his counterpart, Ivan dos Santos, where the strengthening of cooperation between the two governments in economic matters was emphasized.
Neves noted that although the presence of Portuguese companies was already “very strong”, it needed to grow. The cooperation should also allow Angolan companies to bet on the Portuguese market as a gateway to Europe, with advantages for both countries.
The governor, who is in Angola with a delegation of Portuguese businessmen related to clothing and footwear, as well as representatives of the Institute of Welding and Quality (ISQ), which will inaugurate the new facilities of ISQApave associated with it, said that there the possibility of materializing investments in some areas.
“We have everything to do. We have excellent relations, but there is a lot of work that we can do that will allow the relations between the two countries to be even stronger”, said João Neves.
He added that one of the areas in which he would like to “cooperate both in the clothing and footwear industry is vocational training”, noting that Portugal has experience in these two sectors.
“We are aware of the Angolan government’s instructions for economic diversification, but we also know the difficulties that all countries have in terms of human resources with proper training for these processes”, he emphasized.
On the other hand, although trade exchanges have increased by 50% in the last year, they are still below the pre-pandemic level.
“Angola is Portugal’s third trade partner outside the European Union; It is definitely a priority to strengthen the economic presence of Portuguese companies here and Angolan investments in Portugal,” he insisted.
Ivan dos Santos was also confident in increasing the number of Angolan companies and investors in Portugal and Europe.
“We will see and study the possibility with Portugal, being a member of the European Union, to guarantee that our Angolan companies and investors feel comfortable in the European market”, he emphasized.
One of the points addressed in the meeting was the creation of the Portugal-Angola Investment Observatory to assess the investment flows of the two countries, which resulted from an agreement signed in 2015.
“It was stopped because of the issues of the agenda and the issue of the pandemic itself, but we intend for the technical teams to resume work and for Angola to be able to benefit from this relationship that it has with Portugal and Europe,” said the Angolan secretary of state, acknowledging that later this year technical meetings will be prepared to continue the work.
Ivan dos Santos pointed out that Angola currently has a more diversified economic base, is not entirely based on oil production, and is therefore able to take national production to the European market, with priority agribusiness.
With information from Lusa
