According to João Lourenço, who was speaking at the welcoming ceremony for his Cuban counterpart, Miguel Díaz-Canel, on a state visit to Angola, cooperation between both countries, which has lasted for more than four decades, should have a new paradigm.
"We are very pleased with this great result of our bilateral cooperation and, therefore, we must maintain it, giving it a new paradigm in which we must focus on high-level specialized exchange in critical areas of knowledge, for which we count on a again with your selfless collaboration and solidarity", pointed out Lourenço.
The President, who was speaking after holding a private meeting with his Cuban counterpart, at the Presidential Palace, in Luanda, recalled that Angola and Cuba, in these decades of bilateral relations, "developed a wide range of actions".
"The [actions] carried out in the sectors of health, education and higher education, defence, tourism, transport, sports, commerce and industry deserve to be highlighted", he pointed out.
The head of state highlighted the role of Cuban health professionals, "who for a considerable period" ensured the operation of hospital units at all levels and throughout the national territory, while Angolans were trained "in Angola, in Cuba and in several European countries".
João Lourenço defended a "stimulating role" for the private sector of both countries, in the context of the new vision on the model that should be present in the relationship between Luanda and Cuba.
"It is essential that we agree on the dynamic role that the private sector and the citizens of our respective countries can play within the framework of free enterprise, for strengthening the capacity of our economies and bilateral cooperation", he advocated.
The head of state also noted the importance of the meeting of the Angola-Cuba Bilateral Commission, last April in Havana, which "made an exhaustive balance of cooperation" between the two countries.
"And reached important conclusions on aspects that will guarantee the functioning of bilateral cooperation in specific sectors and the fulfillment of obligations by Angola, to which we will pay careful attention in order to fulfill them whenever possible within the time frame set at the meeting", he said.
He recognized that Angola is going through a "sensitive moment resulting from the exposure" of its "economy to external shocks, aggravated by the consequences of the covid-19 pandemic, which very seriously affected the living conditions of the population".
"We are making a great effort to overcome these difficulties and we believe in the success of the adopted measures", he assured.
The development of practical mechanisms that facilitate exchange between Angola and Cuba, at all levels, free trade, complementarity in the use of available resources, transfer of technical, technological and scientific knowledge was also defended by João Lourenço.
The President criticized the economic embargo imposed on the Latin American country, considering that Cuba "has been ingenious in the fight that it wages daily against the embargo to which it has been subject for decades".
But despite that, he noted, "it has revealed an impressive level of resilience and capacity to find solutions that guarantee the survival of the Cuban people and the preservation of independence and national sovereignty."
"In line with the position of a large part of the international community, Angola defends the lifting of the economic blockade to which your country has been subject for decades", he argued.
"We believe that without the embargo, Cuba and the Cuban people will define for themselves the political and economic model that satisfies the aspirations of freedom, justice and economic and social development and will maintain commercial exchanges and relations of economic cooperation with all countries on the basis of of the reciprocity of advantages", concluded João Lourenço.
The President of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, completed the first day of his first official visit to Angola.
