João Caetano da Silva spoke this Friday to the press at the end of an audience with the President, João Lourenço, which served as a greeting at the end of more than four years in office.
According to the Portuguese diplomat, the two countries have an "extremely high" bilateral relationship, marked by political visits at the highest level in just six months.
With regard to bilateral cooperation, João Caetano da Silva stressed that a number of dossiers that are very important for Portugal have progressed, notably the significantly higher payment of debts to Portuguese companies.
"To point out the very significant progress that has been made in terms of recognised debts, because they have three parameters: debts that are recognised to Portuguese companies, certified debts and debts paid. We currently have a level of debt payment of two thirds of the debts claimed, which seems obvious to correspond to an extremely positive result of this whole process", he said.
In May 2019, Angola's then secretary of state for the economy, currently the minister of this portfolio, Sérgio Santos, said that debts to portuguese companies were recognised to the value of 500 million dollars, half of which had already been paid, guaranteeing that they would be fully paid by the end of 2019.
The ambassador at the end of his mission also highlighted that there is a greater diversity of companies, which does not only include civil construction and energy, also highlighting that the process of paying debts to Portuguese companies now includes debts of regional governments, which was an important issue for Portugal.
João Caetano e Silva praised the role of the Ministry of Finance, with which intense work has been carried out in the last two years.
"And it was through this strong spirit of cooperation with the Ministry of Finance and its team that we were able to manage, which I consider successful, an issue that was not easy to manage, and which is today on a very good course and on the way, a little quickly, to resolving it", he stressed.
The Portuguese diplomat also highlighted the "very strong" cooperation between the two countries in the introduction of Value Added Tax (VAT), in the privatisation programme, in the management of public debt, in the area of local administration, education, defence, health and justice, with the start of cooperation in the area of registries and notary public.
"In the area of technical-military cooperation, particular emphasis is placed on cyberdefence issues, which is an increasingly important topic at present and will also be very important in the future and in maritime safety, given Portugal's vast experience in this area", he said.
According to the ambassador, in the area of foreign affairs, Portugal has welcomed Angolan diplomats, and there is an increasingly varied and intense collaboration between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of both countries.
"And therefore our balance of bilateral cooperation is also very positive, it is increasingly strong, increasingly varied, it is a true cooperation, corresponds to a sharing of experience and knowledge that we try to have the greatest benefit for Angola," he stressed.
Regarding the trade balance, João Caetano da Silva, who is replaced in the post by Pedro Pessoa e Costa, also gave a positive note, considering it "practically balanced".
"The growth of Angolan exports to Portugal is very significant, the decrease of Portuguese exports to Angola is also significant. The latest data point to an almost levelling off, which we welcome, and what we want is for there to continue to be significant exports from Angola to Portugal, which necessarily include oil, but also cover other areas, such as ornamental rocks and agriculture, where we know that Angola has great export capacity," he said.
