The head of Portuguese diplomacy was speaking at the end of his first official visit since taking over his new duties two weeks ago, having chosen Angola as a destination for the "huge importance it attaches to the country as a partner of Portugal" in the scope of foreign policy.
As for the debt, "this was a big problem", he acknowledged, in statements to journalists.
"Of course, it is not very encouraging for Portuguese companies when there is an accumulation of debt, when they are faced with the possibility of working and not receiving. Today, 89 percent of the debts accumulated in the past have already been settled", he said.
The amount in question is around 520 million euros, out of a total of 585 million euros of certified debt.
"There is still 11 percent left, but we must recognize and underline the effort of the Angolan State, now there is little left, we are going to finish this regularization process", he added.
As for uncertified debts, that is, not recognized by the executive, "they are difficult to quantify" and "will have to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis", he added, saying that he also hopes to continue to count on the commitment of the Angolan State.
In the meetings he had in Luanda with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the President, he said that he felt "the will to reciprocate" with regard to relations between the two countries.
"We have the bases to be ambitious", he pointed out, noting that the relationships "are very good" and "multidimensional".
The official said that Portugal is prepared to respond to the challenges of diversifying the Angolan economy in areas such as tourism, energy and agriculture and guaranteed: "we want to help create conditions for companies in these areas to come to work in Angola", although "the more traditional ones such as civil construction continue to be important".
The minister, who reserved the last part of his visit to Angola for a meeting with around four dozen members of the Portuguese business community, said that "businessmen are never 100 percent satisfied", showing willingness to listen and find answers to the difficulties.
"The business community always wants to do more, identify things that could be better and we, as policy makers, have an obligation to listen and respond when this makes sense in terms of public policies", underlined Gomes Cravinho, stressing that the level of satisfaction it is, however, higher than it was three years ago.
In Angola, around 1250 Portuguese companies currently operate.
