The new president of the Angolan Private Investment and Export Promotion Agency (AIPEX), Arlindo das Chagas Rangel, highlighted in statements to Lusa the importance of the "declaration of partnership" signed this Monday, particularly in terms of helping to respond to Angolan needs "in terms of training and identification of markets and opportunities".
Rangel brought to Portugal the concerns of the Government with two fundamental sectors, energy – this Tuesday the AIPEX team will visit the Sines industrial logistics port complex – and food security.
"Food security is a vast sector, it requires infrastructure, logistics, and [above all] production, and we will focus on this sector", he announced to Lusa.
"We are in a process of opening up, of making ourselves known and, with the support and help of AICEP, trying to use the channels [of the Portuguese agency] to be able to increase foreign direct investment (FDI) in Angola", he added.
Filipe Santos Costa, president of the Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade of Portugal (AICEP) highlighted the importance of the partnership in "three main areas of cooperation" – generic formation of the Angolan counterpart as an agency for investment and foreign trade focused on attracting investment; and also in the organization of business missions to attract this investment; and finally in information supporting the internationalization of companies.
"The agreement reflects the interconnection between the two economies, because Angola is a very important non-European market for Portugal (...) due to the enormous number of Portuguese companies that are committed to the Angolan market", highlighted Santos Costa.
The AICEP leader highlighted the importance of Angola's "opening of territory", materialized in the Angolan Government's commitment to the development of infrastructure, particularly water and electricity networks.
"Taking advantage of opportunities and developing public or private investments in transport infrastructures and utility networks are certainly investments with a return", highlighted Santos Costa.
The Portuguese manager also highlighted the Angolan agri-food sector as a "focus" of attention, not only due to investment opportunities in agriculture itself, but also "in logistics and supply networks, in agro-industry, and in true development of the entire agri-food sector" – which is also one of our Portuguese priorities.
Angola, in turn, and in Arlindo Rangel's terms, expressed in Lisbon "its total availability" so that the partnership signed this Monday "constitutes a solid basis for a new and exemplary model of cooperation, innovation and success between both parties".
"Together, we can face future challenges and transform opportunities into tangible achievements, which will benefit our business communities and our countries", stated the president of AIPEX.
The signing of the partnership, integrated into a set of actions taking place this Monday and Tuesday, culminates a "dialogue action" between the two similar institutions, which included a workshop in Luanda in mid-April, online training for 20 technicians and directors of AIPEX by the AICEP Academy, the preparation of a study on the Portuguese and Angolan experiences in promoting exports and attracting investment and the creation of a guide to good practices for business missions.
The action was supported by the European Union, with financing from the European Development Fund, as part of strengthening public policy dialogue between the 27 and Angola in the area of economic growth, sustainable development and support for the country's economic diversification effort.
