During the visit, which takes place between Tuesday and Thursday, Luís Montenegro will seek to convey that the relationship with Angola "is a relationship of all hours", and independent of any political cycle in both countries, according to the prime minister's office.
During his trip, which will pass through Luanda and Benguela, the Prime Minister will be accompanied by the Ministers of State and Finance, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, and Minister of Economy, Pedro Reis, as well as the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Nuno Sampaio (representing the responsible minister, Paulo Rangel, who is in Rio de Janeiro at the G20 meeting), and the Secretary of State for Treasury and Finance, João Silva Lopes.
The invitation to Luís Montenegro to visit Angola came in the first weeks of his mandate and was publicly announced by President João Lourenço, after a meeting between the two at the Portuguese Prime Minister's official residence in Lisbon, one day after the head of state and the Government of Angola participated in the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the 25th of April, at the invitation of the President of the Republic of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
On that occasion, João Lourenço considered that bilateral relations "are at their best", but added: "Although we have the obligation to never feel satisfied. We have to be ambitious to the point of wanting more and more".
Luís Montenegro then said that the intention of the PSD/CDS-PP Government, which took office on April 2, was to "maintain this path of close relations between governments in many areas, from culture to education, to economic relations", highlighting that there are already "many Portuguese companies operating in priority, strategic areas in Angola, such as the agri-food sector, textiles, pharmaceuticals, tourism, construction, renewable energy or technological areas.
The Prime Minister also stated that the Portuguese Government has "every interest" in consolidating positions not only at a bilateral level, "but also multilaterally", within the framework of Angola's relationship with the European Union, within the framework of the CPLP, the United Nations and the G20, as both countries were invited by Brazil as observer members this year.
The official visit of the Prime Minister of Portugal to Angola will have as its highlight on the first day precisely the meeting with João Lourenço, after which several legal instruments, not yet disclosed, will be signed.
At an economic level, the Portuguese executive intends to diversify its bilateral relations with Angola, and more than a hundred Portuguese businesspeople are expected to participate in the Luanda International Fair (FILDA), which takes place during the official visit of Prime Minister Luís Montenegro.
Visits to the Portuguese School of Luanda, on Tuesday, and to the future facilities of the Consulate General in Benguela, on Thursday, are a sign of the priority that the executive intends to give to topics such as education or mobility.
In June, Portugal's Minister of State and Foreign Affairs, Paulo Rangel, said in Luanda that Portugal wants to speed up visa processing, sending 45 specialists to consular posts identified as priority, and highlighted that the number of visas granted by Portugal to Angolan citizens increased by 43 percent, from 42 thousand to 57 thousand, in 2023.
On that occasion, the minister was asked about the topic of Portugal's reparations to former colonies, stating that what is at stake is creating a good relationship and healing the wounds of history, "which always exist", promoting reconciliation and taking advantage of the past mistakes in a pedagogical way.
When he was in Lisbon to participate in the session commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 25th of April 1974, the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, argued that the challenge that the former colonies currently face is "that of consolidating democracy, diversifying and strengthening" their economies.
"We knew how to overcome and overcome the challenge of our existence as free and sovereign nations, establish peace and reconciliation between us, and today we are committed to the economic and social development of our countries", stated João Lourenço.
