"Essentially, we intend to build an economy based on a dynamic, diversified and inclusive productive base", said this Thursday the Minister of State for Economic Coordination, José de Lima Massano, highlighting the good pace of development of the mineral resources sector.
According to the official, in addition to the mineral resources, oil and gas sector, the Angolan authorities also intend to pay and mobilize particular attention to other sectors of the economy.
The minister said that the objective is to "accelerate its growth and guarantee the capacity to meet the main needs of the population, with emphasis on the food and raw material production chain for our still emerging industrialization", he stressed.
Speaking at the opening of a workshop on social responsibility actions and projects in the mineral resources, oil and gas sector, promoted in Luanda by the responsible ministry, Massano also highlighted the country's agricultural potential with a view to guaranteeing food security.
For the Minister of State, by boosting the country's agricultural sector, "with most arable land, favorable climate, abundant water and available labor", and the respective value chain, Angola is able to guarantee food security, creating jobs and increasing family income.
Massano recalled that the General State Budget (OGE) 2024, already in execution, contains an increase of more than 80 percent for the agricultural sector and that the operationalization of financial support in various forms for producers is underway.
The system of public guarantees, financing from community funds and campaign agricultural credit are the ongoing actions to boost the agricultural sector, as highlighted by the government official, noting that the institutional capacity of agricultural institutes is being strengthened.
"And no less important, the beginning of an agricultural mechanization program aimed at family-based cooperatives", he pointed out.
The head of economic coordination for João Lourenço's government also expressed "great satisfaction" at witnessing "all over the country a dynamic movement to transform rural life".
According to the minister, this is "without a doubt, the path to the broadest and most sustainable social inclusion" and urged companies in the mineral resources sector to direct social responsibility actions towards direct investments in agricultural mechanization and high-yield seed production.
He also highlighted, in his speech, the fundamental role played by the mineral resources sector in the growth of the Angolan economy over several decades, recalling that it has the greatest weight in the structure of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with around 30 percent, and it generates 95 percent of export revenue.
The minister also defended the need for "greater participation of large international companies with strong institutional capacity".
"We will continue to work on its development, recognizing the enormous added value it represents for our economy in several aspects", concluded José de Lima Massano.
The 'workshop' was carried out by the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, with the holder of this portfolio, Diamantino Azevedo, considering, in his speech, that the social responsibility actions of companies in the sector, in the fields of education, health and Sport is essential for the sustainable development of communities.
