Speaking this Tuesday, on the sidelines of the visit to the project's works, Vera Daves de Sousa said that the project is not only available to pilgrims and those who do religious tourism to the basilica, but also has the merit of reclassifying the town and placing at the service of citizens infrastructure and better quality housing, school, medical centre.
"It is a project that we understand will add value to this municipality and this village", she stressed.
The official highlighted that the project is divided into phases, with a component of requalification of the village, namely the repair of infrastructures, with Portuguese financing of around 150 million euros.
The other part of the project, which includes the basilica and complementary infrastructure, is financed by an Angolan bank in the amount of around 86 billion kwanzas (159.4 million euros).
"The sum of these two components is what will make up the total project and we are working with the two financiers simultaneously to ensure that the works also run simultaneously and finish within the 36 months that are foreseen", stressed the minister.
In addition, the finance minister also said that the visit of her Portuguese counterpart will bring a new cycle of greater dynamics to financial cooperation between the two countries.
"Enough is already done, we already have many Portuguese companies operating in Angola, in various areas, especially in civil construction, but there is always room to do more and we believe that this visit gives an important boost to what we want to do from now on", said Vera Daves de Sousa, on the sidelines of the visit to the construction works of the Muxima Sanctuary project and the urban requalification of the village of Muxima.
In turn, the Portuguese finance minister, Fernando Medina, said that the work forms part of an agreement between the two states, which have a partnership with the aim of ensuring faster development of projects in Angola, for the highest satisfaction rapid response to the populations' needs with the participation of Portuguese companies.
"I was particularly impressed with what I saw, and I would like to congratulate the Angolan Government and my friend, the Minister of Finance, who defined this priority, who moved forward with the projects, which came to fruition with a very important and positive vision of the rehabilitation and regeneration of the area in this space, valuing the social dimension, practical quality of life, cultural and religious", he said.
According to the Portuguese minister, the project is progressing well, consistently, expressing satisfaction "that Portugal has been associated with this project".
Fernando Medina underlined that this project is part of a line of financial agreement between Portugal and Angola and already includes many other projects, some more advanced in their implementation and others that are about to start.
"What I will address with Minister Vera is precisely the conditions of how we can ensure that funding, that resources arrive as quickly as possible, at the right time, at the right moment, so that projects can happen more quickly to serve the needs of the population", he stressed.
The holder of the Portuguese Finance portfolio added that there is a guarantee line from the Portuguese State to Angola for the execution of these projects.
130 kilometers from Luanda, in the village of Muxima, in the municipality of Quiçama, is located the largest sanctuary in the country, whose first stone for the urban rehabilitation of the village and the construction of the basilica was laid in July last year.
The works carried out by a consortium of companies, led by Casais Angola, are financed by BCP and Banco Português de Fomento, and foresee the construction of the basilica dedicated to Nossa Senhora da Conceição in Vila da Muxima, popularly known as the Sanctuary da Muxima or Mama Muxima.
