Speaking to Lusa, the administrator of the Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade of Portugal (AICEP) Luís Rebelo de Sousa, who this Wednesday participated in the Day of Portugal at the Luanda International Fair (Filda), highlighted the satisfaction of the Portuguese companies that came to present their products and services at Filda, which this year broke a record with around 1300 participations.
"And Portugal does a good job since, among the 23 companies that came with Associação Empresarial Portuguesa [AEP] and the 30 Portuguese or mixed capital companies that are here (...) it ends up having the largest representation at country level", he noted.
Asked about the current situation of scarcity of foreign exchange and devaluation of the Angolan currency, he said that the companies that have their operations in Angola are still waiting to see the impact of the shock and understand how the measures that the Angolan Government announced will have impact on the Angolan economy.
"But they are expectant and optimistic about the future as they are focused on growing their business in the Angolan market", which presents itself as "an opportunity for relentless growth" and "openness to foreign investment", he said.
As for the exchange rate context, he admits that it has posed different challenges to Portuguese companies, highlighting price changes in terms of sales and acquisitions as a common denominator.
"They are postponing operations, managing stocks, adapting prices, while they wait for the market to stabilize", he indicated, noting that the Portuguese authorities closely monitor Portuguese companies established in the African country, "trying to understand their concerns and act in an attempt to resolve of some of the challenges".
The AICEP administrator also stressed that Angola had a positive cycle in the post-pandemic period, from which trade with Portugal benefited.
In 2022, exports of goods and services from Portugal to Angola exceeded two billion euros, 57.4 percent above the previous year, while imports from Angola increased by 367.5 percent.
In the first four months of this year, Portuguese exports of goods and services reached 774 million euros (85 million more than in the same period of the previous year), that is, an increase of 12.3 percent.
Angola currently ranks ninth in the list of main customers in Portugal and is the country's 42nd supplier.
It is estimated that more than 1200 companies with Portuguese or mixed capital operate in Angola, operating in areas such as civil construction and infrastructure, agro-food and agro-industrial, banking, insurance, metalworking, technologies information and communication (ICT), energy, health, and transport and logistics.
For Luís Rebelo de Sousa, the most attractive areas for Portuguese investment in Angola "are those in which the country has internationally recognized strengths and which may contribute to Angola's economic development", including agro-industry, industry, health, ICT, renewable energy, tourism, infrastructure and training.
As for the new measures adopted by the Government to mitigate the budget deficit, he noted that it is necessary to wait for them to take effect: "They should be seen as an incentive to identify business opportunities in sectors that will be important in Angola's economic diversification strategy".
