Right at the first point of his two-day official visit programme, at 11:00 am, shortly after landing in Luanda, António Costa will be received by President João Lourenço.
On the political level, the leader of the Portuguese executive has maintained that Luso-Angolan relations are "at a very high point", while the Angolan head of state said in a recent interview that bilateral relations "have never been as good as they are now".
"What we need is to increase Portuguese investment in Angola wherever possible", defended João Lourenço.
At the end of the morning, the governments of Lisbon and Luanda signed more than a dozen agreements.
From this set of agreements, the Portuguese Government highlights the Strategic Cooperation Program (PEC) 2023-2027, the reinforcement of the Portugal-Angola credit line from 1.5 to two billion euros and the memorandum of understanding between the administration of the ports Sines and the Algarve and the Barra do Dande Development Society.
The PEC 2023-2027, according to António Costa, represents "a concrete mark of the strengthening of cooperation between two friendly countries at a very high moment in Portuguese-Angolan relations". And the reinforcement of the business credit line, from 1.5 billion euros to two billion euros, will serve to "respond to President João Lourenço's ambition for Portugal to contribute to the diversification of the Angolan economy".
In Luanda, the leader of the Portuguese executive will be accompanied by the ministers of Finance, Fernando Medina, of Foreign Affairs, João Gomes Cravinho, of Economy, António Costa Silva, of Agriculture, Maria do Céu Antunes, and by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Francis Andre.
In economic matters, the Portuguese side is committed to new areas of investment and cooperation such as water and energy, engineering and construction, agro-industry, tourism, the pharmaceutical industry, education or textiles.
This afternoon, after having lunch with João Lourenço, the Prime Minister visits companies in the industrial zone of Viana and ends the day at a reception with businessmen present in the Angolan market.
