"It is quite satisfactory and we are also flattered to know that France and its entrepreneurs also intend to participate in the development of this great sector, the country has great potential, we have more than 58 million hectares available for cultivation", said this Thursday the Secretary of State for Agriculture and Livestock, João Manuel da Cunha.
Speaking at the opening of the Angola-France Economic Forum, in Luanda, held as part of the official visit of the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, to Angola, the official highlighted the country's agricultural potential, considering that these should be transformed into true wealth for the country.
According to João Manuel da Cunha, Angola has the second largest water reservoir in the region, "with rivers and many hydrographic basins, a climate that allows production throughout the year and very high rainfall".
"We have a good climate, all these potentialities we now intend to be transformed into true riches for the country".
At the launch forum of a production partnership between France and Angola in the agricultural and agri-food sector, which runs until Friday in the capital, the Secretary of State referred that the agricultural sector in Angola "is in full development" and constitutes "the basis of development".
"The President of the Republic, João Lourenço, has defined in his program the development of agriculture as the key sector and this is being done", he said.
"We invite French businessmen to this great undertaking, our country is open, significant improvements have been made so that the business environment is even better", he noted.
More than 30 French businessmen from the agricultural and agri-food sector are taking part in the forum, along with dozens of Angolan businessmen, in an action that also seeks new partnerships and the consolidation of others.
The chairman of the board of directors of the Private Investment and Export Promotion Agency (AIPEX), Lello João Francisco, highlighted the reforms in the macroeconomic sector in Angola and in the business environment, referring that the country has reached "fiscal stability".
"Important reforms were also carried out in the context of the business environment, we have a new Private Investment Law, which essentially aims to facilitate investment, but above all to facilitate interaction between Angolan and foreign businessmen", he stressed.
French businessmen from the sectors of animal protein transformation, seed production, milk, agricultural irrigation products and others with experience in the African continent, who participated in this first day of the forum, expressed willingness to establish partnerships in Angola.
The Forum, which takes place at the Money Museum, in Luanda, is expected to be attended on Friday by the French head of state, Emmanuel Macron, who arrived in the Angolan capital at the beginning of Thursday night.
