At the end of a three-day official visit to Angola – the longest since he took office as Prime Minister in April – Luís Montenegro made "an extraordinary assessment" of the trip, in statements to the Portuguese media.
"I must confess that, in a first, more sentimental or immaterial word, we are finishing the visit and we already miss being here and being able to interact with the authorities and the Angolan people," he said, in a statement in which he was flanked by the two ministers who accompanied him, the Minister of State and Finance, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, and the Minister of Economy, Pedro Reis.
Montenegro highlighted the "very diverse and very productive" agenda that resulted in the signing of 12 protocols and memoranda of commitment with the Angolan government in various areas, such as civil protection, justice, finance, economy and professional training.
During this visit, Portugal announced the reinforcement of the credit line to Angola by 500 million euros – now standing at 2.5 billion euros – and signed a legal instrument ensuring that the Institute of Employment and Professional Training (IEFP) will begin working in Angola to promote the professional training of Angolan staff.
For Montenegro, the relationship between the two countries from an institutional point of view "is without any blemish and from a business point of view "is creating multiple opportunities" to promote the growth and economic and social development of Angola and Portugal.
In addition to this assessment, and when asked about the positions of the President of the Portuguese Republic on national issues, Montenegro took the opportunity to highlight the harmony with Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa regarding the deepening of cooperation between Portugal and Angola.
"I am, in fact, the bearer of a special hug from the President of the Republic of Angola, João Lourenço, which I will personally deliver to the President of the Portuguese Republic", he added.
Montenegro stressed that Portugal has in Angola "a friendly country, a nation and a Government that collaborate very directly" with Portugal, considering that with this visit "a basis for deepening bilateral relations that is absolutely excellent" was established.
"Today I am especially committed to telling the Portuguese people that there is a future in Angola for many Portuguese companies and there is a great future in Portugal for many Angolan and Portuguese companies too", he stated, summarizing this visit with the word hope.
Montenegro considered that the Portuguese Government takes from Angola "a broad list of specifications, but that it is not just an exchange of rhetorical flags".
"It is indeed concrete work, concrete opportunities, concrete interactions", he stressed.
From this visit, the Portuguese Prime Minister recalled the visit to the Portuguese School of Luanda, for "safeguarding the preservation and cultivation of the Portuguese language", and "a very broad business agenda", with visits to companies and to all the Portuguese "stands" at the Luanda International Fair.
"And today we had the opportunity in Benguela and Lobito to attend several interventions by Portuguese companies in areas as diverse as energy production, renewable energy, the application of Portuguese technology and engineering (...) and we were able to witness the opportunities that are opening up in other areas of economic activity, in agro-industry, tourism, in various trade and service opportunities", he highlighted.
Before this assessment of the visit, the Portuguese Prime Minister and the rest of the delegation had a farewell ceremony at the Presidential Palace – which was delayed by more than half an hour, due to the trip to Benguela –, and then had dinner with the Portuguese ambassador in Luanda, Francisco Alegre Duarte, before returning to Lisbon on Thursday night, where he arrived in the early hours of Friday.
