The head of state arrived in Cape Verde on Sunday, starting this morning the official program of the state visit to Praia, with the reception at the Presidential Palace by the Cape Verdean President, José Maria Neves, who last January held his first visit abroad, after being sworn in in November, precisely to Luanda.
At the end of the morning, João Lourenço goes to the Government Palace to attend, together with the Cape Verdean Prime Minister, Ulisses Correia e Silva, the signing of the final documents of the VIII Joint Cape Verde-Angola Cooperation Commission, which met again on Saturday, in Praia, after 14 years.
One of these documents is the agreement involving the Angolan air carrier TAAG, which will supply a Boeing 737-700 on a 'leasing' basis to its Cape Verdean counterpart TACV.
"It is a first step that we are taking with TACV, we do not exclude the integration of other countries, even in the regional context or even in the context of Portuguese-speaking African Countries [PALOP], but a new stage of our bilateral relationship begins here. and with another level of effectiveness", announced on Saturday the Minister of Transport, Ricardo Abreu, after the meeting of the mixed commission.
He added that the state-owned airline TAAG will leasing one of its "new generation" Boeing 737-700s to allow TACV to resume its routes - it only operates international flights - after the impact of the covid pandemic. -19, with the two companies implementing a "marriage" that also includes the exploration of the air hubs of Sal (Cape Verde) and Luanda.
According to information from TAAG, the company operates several Boeing 737s with a capacity for 120 passengers, mainly on domestic routes, which it is replacing with six Dash 8-400 turboprops.
According to Ricardo Abreu, in addition to this understanding between the two state-owned airlines, to be signed during the President's visit, agreements will also be signed, in the area of transport, for "up-to-date" air services on the single market in Africa, the first that Angola signs "in these terms", and a memorandum of understanding between the two ministries, for the exchange of experiences and training, as well as another between the civil aviation authorities of the two countries.
According to information provided on Saturday by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Regional Integration of Cape Verde, Rui Figueiredo Soares, the two governments signed this Monday, among other documents, and in the presence of the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, and the Cape Verdean prime minister, Ulisses Correia e Silva, an agreement for the promotion and reciprocal protection of investments.
"It is very important because we are going to create conditions for this cooperation to become effective, for our businessmen to effectively exchange experiences, such south-south cooperation", said the Cape Verdean minister, confirming the will to "make effective" the remaining agreements between the two countries and thus "make them tangible".
The Cape Verdean presidency announced in a statement that João Lourenço's visit to Cape Verde from 13 to 16 March takes place in return for the one carried out by José Maria Neves to Angola, in January.
During his stay in the country's capital, the head of state will also make an intervention in a special session at the National Assembly, during the afternoon.
After Praia, the President will travel on Tuesday to Mindelo, on the island of São Vicente, where he will visit points of economic interest, such as the Frescomar fish conservation company and the Desalinated Water Production Station, in addition to receiving the city keys.
The departure from Cape Verde, from the island of São Vicente, is scheduled for Wednesday.
