"The [foreign investment] priorities are defined by the Government of Angola. We are facing an opportunity to create jobs, train human resources, in addition to satisfying needs as diverse as schools, hospitals, housing and different infrastructures", declared António Costa.
Speaking to journalists, at the end of his visit to Casais Angola, in the Viana area and before going to Acail, a few hundred meters from the former, the Portuguese prime minister said that these two companies "are a good example of how Portugal and Angola, together, do more and better".
In an allusion to the new line of financing for projects in Angola worth two billion euros, the leader of the Portuguese executive again stressed that it will be the Angolan Government to define the priorities in terms of investment.
"Then, the companies do the work. That's how we help the development of our bilateral relations", he added, before visiting Acail, on a trip in which he was always accompanied by the ministers of Foreign Affairs, João Gomes Cravinho, of Finance, Fernando Medina, Economics, António Costa Silva, and Agriculture, Maria do Céu Antunes.
Speaking to the Lusa agency, the financial director of Casais Angola, Luís Faria, said that the company currently has 2,500 workers and has been present in the Angolan market since 1999.
Of the projects, he highlighted the assembly of conduct for water supply to Luanda, which will be valued at the order of 350 million euros and awaits an agreement with the Ministry of Finance of Angola to start in the coming months.
Among the works already completed, the financial director highlighted the construction of the Materno Infantil Hospital in Camama, on the outskirts of Luanda, which represented an investment of around 200 million euros.
According to the Portuguese Government, Casais Angola is one of the main players in the engineering and construction sector in the Angolan market, with several reference works in this country, including the infrastructure of Vila da Muxima. This is a project considered a priority for the Angolan executive and included in the Portugal-Angola line of financing.
In addition to civil construction, Casais has invested in the industry segment, namely with industrial bases in the field of metalworking and carpentry.
According to the executive from Lisbon, Acail is a reference company in the sector of steel products, production of industrial, food and medicinal gases, prefabricated concrete products and the sale of medicines.
In addition to its industrial facilities classified as being of excellence, particularly in the field of gases, Acail has invested in the health sector, in particular in the design, construction and management of hemodialysis centres, estimating itself to be responsible for a large majority of this market in Angola.
This Monday, the prime minister ends his first two-day official visit to Angola at a reception with businessmen at a hotel in Luanda.
The Portuguese Government says that around a hundred Portuguese businessmen with business in Angola and from various sectors are invited to this reception: construction and engineering, banking, energy, agri-food, consultancy, health, tourism. Members of the Angolan Government will also be present.
