“Being attentive means executing, acting. The executive has worked to create conditions that enhance the country's development, also giving the opportunity for investment, national or international, to fully benefit from our potential and achievements”, said Ricardo de Abreu in his opening speech at the General Assembly of Southern African Airlines Association (AASA), which Angola welcomes for the first time, in co-organization with TAAG - Linhas Aéreas de Angola.
Ricardo de Abreu said that Angola has identified the critical sectors for economic and social recovery and that are fundamental for its future, which include aviation, considered “essential due to the country's geographical location, but also because it is a sector that It directly creates thousands of qualified jobs and indirectly many more.”
This meeting, in which regulators, manufacturers, service providers, investors and representatives of airlines that make up the association participate, is, according to Ricardo de Abreu, the privileged platform for 'networking' and strengthening relationships between industry actors.
“It is also, especially this year, the ideal scenario for Angolan aviation to showcase and promote the country to the international community, making its strengths, its achievements known and sharing its strategy that involves all participants in this meeting” , he emphasized.
The government official highlighted, in his speech, that 2023 “will go down in the history” of Angola, because this year the country completes one of its biggest investments, “setting up a relevant venture in the aviation sector: the Dr. António Agostinho Neto International Airport ”, which opens on November 10th.
“A solid, long-term, intergenerational investment that will benefit not only the country, but the regional and international economy”, said the minister, highlighting that the Government has ambitious objectives.
“With your feet on the ground and your wings in the air! We want to make our country a hub for transporting people and goods, stimulating regional economies and being an international logistics platform of high importance and performance”, he highlighted.
The head of the Transport portfolio guaranteed that the new airport “will be a reference”, and will also be “one of the most strategic logistics and passenger corridors on the continent”.
The more than two hundred delegates and decision-makers from the aviation industry present at the meeting discussed topics such as the competitive environment, connectivity, financing, supply chain, operational costs, regulatory aspects, growth and sustainability of African airlines. .
For the Minister of Transport, another important topic is the ecological challenges that the aviation sector faces, stressing that “the industry is becoming greener every day, mainly due to the commitments made to decarbonize the activity, creating fundamental challenges for actors in less advanced countries” like most AASA members.
“The process of technological transition and digitalization of services and the challenge of unmanned urban aerial mobility are topics that are currently on the global agenda and we cannot be left behind,” he said.
Ricardo de Abreu stated that, “committed and convinced that TAAG will be a greener company and a reliable and comfortable airline, attentive to industry developments and open to regional cooperation”, they can find in the company “a good partner to coordinate and coordinate regional and continental reach strategies”.
