Carmen Van-Dúnem Neto dos Santos, who spoke at the second edition of the Sustainable Blue Economy investment forum, which took place at the Estoril Congress Center, in Cascais, added to Lusa that, from the meeting with her Portuguese counterpart, António Costa Silva, The result was the recognition that there is "a trajectory and desire" for both countries to "bring investment to ocean areas".
"It was a very productive meeting and we were talking a little about what we have established so far, what has been done at the moment based on previous agreements and we also tried to understand what we want to do for the future. But also looking at our position in multilateral agencies and fundamentally focused on investment in the blue economy. Therefore, there are very similar points", he highlighted.
"There is a trajectory and desire here so that we can effectively bring investment to our ocean areas", she said.
Cármen Van-Dúnem Neto dos Santos also said that in the meeting with António Costa Silva "the perspective of seeing what can be done with 'start ups', what is the possibility of, with Portugal", looking "for the 'start ups' of the blue economy" to envisage "development through blue growth, with companies that can work within the scope of the blue economy, even looking at the different areas that the blue economy (...) calls for" .
"We looked a little at the areas of bioprospecting, which is now an international demand and also at what Portugal wants, which is the issue of renewable energy. Looking at wind power and the strength that Portugal is now demonstrating", he added.
In the intervention he presented at the panel in which he participated, "Ocean as a catalyst for the bioeconomy (Blue Bioeconomy: the importance of financing for its leverage effect)", Cármen Van-Dúnem Neto dos Santos highlighted the specificities of the country, which has six thousand rivers, totaling 150 thousand kilometers, a maritime border of 1650 kilometers, and an Exclusive Economic Zone with an area of more than 518 thousand square kilometers.
The main challenges are financial and the perception of high risk, namely the lack of 'know-how' and the fact that many investors see the blue economy as "undefined and risky territory".
Regarding the opportunities that this sector presents, the minister highlighted the possibility of Angola "being able to create a varied range of resources related to aquaculture", with the consequent increase in fish catches that will be reflected in the improvement of supply to the internal market and also in the export.
"The sustainable growth of the blue bioeconomy in Angola, as in any emerging sector, strongly depends on the continuous inflow of capital and investment", which is why Cármen Van-Dúnem Neto dos Santos addressed the creation of public-private partnerships, access to funding specialized investment and 'blue bonds'.
In this sense, Angola offers tax incentives, crowdfunding platforms and investment and training of young entrepreneurs in the blue bioeconomy sector, which could contribute to the creation of "a prosperous and innovative business ecosystem".
