Luanda - Angola and Brazil decided this week to give new impetus to investments, as part of the Joint Committee on the Cooperation and Facilitation of Investments (ACFI).
The two governments focused mainly on strategic sectors such as sustainable tourism and agriculture.
During a virtual meeting held on Thursday, which was also attended by the two countries’ business associations, both governments highlighted that sustainable tourism represents an area of great potential for the diversification of the Angolan economy.
They said that the sector generates quality jobs, contributes to the promotion of environmental education and professional training for the development of the tourism industry in Angola.
A press release that reached ANGOP states that the delegations from Brazil and Angola discussed the regulatory framework for investments, aspects of foreign exchange legislation and measures to facilitate business visas, dispute settlement mechanism and new agreements and investments in the areas of Sustainable Tourism and Agriculture.
The document indicates that the active participation of businessmen and associations in the sector was seen in the debates as essential for overcoming obstacles to investments and for identifying new opportunities.
The Brazilian ambassador to Angola, Rafael Vidal, referred at the meeting to the promising horizon for an intense agenda of business missions from the two countries in 2022 and for the holding of the High Level Bilateral Commission meeting, in May.
The document reaffirms that there are favourable conditions for expanding investments between the two countries, with a portfolio of around USD 1.3 billion in new projects by Brazilian companies.
Of the projects outlined, stress goes to the first phase of the construction of the Cabinda Refinery and that of the Barra do Dande Port Terminal (in Bengo province), designed for the storage and marketing of fuels, both under the responsibility of Novonor/OEC.
It also includes rice, corn and bean cultivation project, by the Brazilian company Ruzene, in partnership with the Angolan Sílaba, as well as the promising cooperation in the area of agricultural development of irrigated areas, ahead of the Angolan Government project to combat drought in the Cunene Valley, and the Brazilian experience of irrigation and support for family farming in the São Francisco Valley.
At the virtual meeting, the Angolan delegation was represented by the ministries of Foreign Affairs (MIREX), Economy and Planning, Finance, Agriculture and Fisheries, as well as Culture, Tourism and Environment.
Brazil was represented by the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Economy, Agriculture and Tourism, the Brazilian Embassy in Angola, the National Treasury Attorney General's Office, the Central Bank, the Federal Attorney General's Office and APEX-Brasil.
The ACFI meeting also had the special participation of the presidents of the Angola Business Confederation (CEA) Francisco Viana, the Association of Brazilian Entrepreneurs in Angola (AEBRAN) Marcos Chaves and of the Brazilian Association of the Hotel Industry (ABIH) Manuel Linhares.
The Brazil-Angola Cooperation and Facilitation Agreement (ACFI) Joint Committee was signed in 2015 and entered into force in 2017.
