Rui Miguêns, who spoke at the opening of the IV Industry Forum, organized by the newspaper Expansão, referred to the debate that arose with the entry into force this month of the new customs tariff, which increased the cost of some high consumption products, such as rice, sugar, oil, beans, among others.
“We will carry out this commitment to protect national production and national industry to the end. Obviously, we are a responsible, realistic Government, and where there is not enough national production, it has to be supplemented with imports”, he said.
During the debate, the issue of the import lobby was raised, which, according to businessman Adérito Areias, needs to put an end to this situation to boost the national industry.
According to Adérito Areias, director of the board of directors of Salinas Calombolo, one of the speakers at the round table on Competitiveness and Industry Growth in Angola, there needs to be rigor in the application of the customs tariff, with the aim of greater national productivity.
The holder of the Industry and Commerce portfolio highlighted the need to collect taxes, essential for the survival of any State, to have social and economic policies, with the General Tax Administration (AGT) having the duty to fulfill this mission of collecting contributions.
“We need to dispassionate this debate, making it less aggressive, so we can start discussing the axes of our tax policy, because, in reality, as taxpayers we all want zero tax (…), that is the reality, the problem is how is that we build a country, how we give instruments to a government to operate with a zero tax rate”, he said.
The government official said that it is necessary to open the debate on the level of taxes, the scope of tax collection, how each citizen contributes, highlighting that it is necessary to change the discourse that people are bankrupt, impoverished and that no one can and should pay taxes .
“We have to change this discourse, if we want to create a serious country, a country that solves its problems, also call our social and civil responsibility, saying that everyone has to contribute according to their income”, he stressed.
The minister stated that Angola already has industries, highlighting that the transformation industry has the installed capacity to satisfy local needs and export, but is not yet being exploited 100 percent, due to lack of raw materials, stating that the country has already a large production of corn and wheat production.
The challenge has been launched, assured Rui Miguêns, reinforcing that industries will be protected and will continue to import what they need, emphasizing the great potential of the textile industry, with Angola having the largest installed textile production capacity in Africa, with the most advanced technology, there is a great business opportunity.
The leader called for the production of cotton, a raw material that is currently imported.
