The statements were made in Malanje, northern Angola, after the inauguration of the Instituto Superior das Tecnologias Agro-Alimentares de Malanje (ISTAM), which resulted from a partnership with France.
Pointing out the European country as "an agricultural power", João Lourenço, highlighted that if the country knows how to take advantage of this collaboration "it is very likely that Angola will also become an agricultural power in the African continent".
For the Chief Executive, who answered questions related to his visit to Malanje, this "is a dream come true".
"We have objective conditions to be able to achieve this dream, we have good land, plenty of water, what we need is to train the man and what we are going to do in this institution is precisely to train the man," within the framework of cooperation with France, he indicated.
João Lourenço mentioned that the higher education institution "comes to cover a big gap" related to the need of transformation of the products of the field, which requires specialized technical knowledge.
The President stated that the country is beginning to have some agricultural production, "but, unfortunately, not only due to the difficulties in marketing, but especially due to the lack of food processing and transformation industries, a lot of product is spoiled".
But he said that the government has paid particular attention to education and teaching, especially higher education, which materializes in this case in ISTAM, where young people will "learn the most modern techniques for processing the products of the countryside".
He also left a message to investors who want to invest in agribusiness and agro-industry that they will have the technical staff they need for the transformation of local products.
According to João Lourenço, the aim is to replicate the project in other parts of the country where there are "training candidates", with emphasis on other provinces with agricultural potential near Malanje, such as Uíje and Kwanza Norte.
