Luanda - The Angolan government has asked the Brazilian authorities for the permanent presence, in the short term, of an Embrapa unit, in order to support efforts to boost agricultural activity in the country.
Empraba is a Brazilian public institution for research, development and innovation in the area of agriculture.
The request was made on Friday by the Minister of State for Economic Coordination, José de Lima Massano, during a meeting with the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil, Carlos Fávaro.
The minister highlighted the enormous potential of the Angolan agricultural sector and the need for cooperation to ensure food security and social inclusion, so the two countries should work on a roadmap, so that the unit of this research, development and innovation institution in the area of agriculture can be installed as soon as possible.
José de Lima Massano also took stock of the ongoing reforms to improve the business environment and attract investments to boost the Angolan economy, still heavily dependent on oil, representing 95% of foreign exchange resources.
For his part, the Brazilian Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Carlos Fávaro, welcomed the request of the Angolan authorities, noting that Angola will be a major exporter of food in the near future.
'Food security is a basic principle of peace (...)', he said, inviting the Minister of State to visit the producing regions of Brazil next year.
At this meeting, the Brazilian Minister was accompanied by officials from Embrapa, APEX (Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency), Banco do Brasil (the largest public bank in that country) and businessmen from various sectors.
The Brazilian official made a two-day visit to Angola, during which he participated in the Angola-Brazil Agro Business Forum and signed, among other instruments, the letter of intent for the promotion of agricultural trade and investment between the ministries of Agriculture and the two states.
This document provides for joint actions for the identification, elaboration and structuring of strategic agricultural projects.
Also on Friday, the countries signed another document aimed at strengthening partnerships in the area of Agriculture, more specifically an exchange of notes to update the Memorandum of Cooperation between the two ministries, signed in August 2023, during the visit of the Brazilian President to Angola.
The instrument, now updated, includes the Agronomic Institute of Angola and the Brazilian research company 'Embrapa', and its signature was signed by the directors of these institutions, namely, João Ferreira, from the Angolan side, and Silvia Fonseca. VC/DOJ
