Luanda - At least 11 cooperation agreements are expected to be signed as part of the State visit of the President of Brazil Luís Inácio Lula da Silva to Angola, scheduled to start on Friday.
The information was provided Wednesday in Luanda by the Brazilian ambassador to Angola Raúl de Mello Vidal, after a meeting with the National Assembly Speaker Carolina Cerqueira.
According to the diplomat, these are agreements in the areas of agriculture, health, inclusive education, transport, creation of small and medium-sized companies, treatment, processing and transfer of public administration data, as well as reciprocal support for candidacies in international institutions.
The diplomat added that Presidents João Lourenço and Lula da Silva will launch, during the visit of the Brazilian statesman, the Cunene Valley Development Programme, on the occasion of the economic and business forum.
He said the forum will include the participation of 500 businessmen, of whom around 170 Brazilians integrating the Brazilian Presidential entourage.
Raúl de Mello Vidal said that on the table there will also be issues linked to the fields of defence and peace, construction of shipyards, export of vessels and the training of Angolan military personnel to participate in UN missions.
The ambassador said that the first Angolan rapid displacement force was already being prepared in his country to join the UN missions.
He announced Brazil's intention to build, in the near future, a consulate general in Angola to meet the demand for visas to his country, which has grown by 760 percent in the last three years.
The current situation, he added, recommends strengthening the mission as around 27,000 Brazilians currently living in Angola, the largest community on the African continent, followed by South Africa, with 3,000.
He said that President Lula da Silva's visit will serve to renew the strategic partnership agreement between the two countries, signed in 2010.
On the occasion, Raúl Vidal informed that the Brazil/Angola Parliamentary friendship group will be resumed.
The Brazilian ambassador was at the National Assembly to discuss details of the extraordinary plenary session, to be held during the President Lula da Silva's visit to Angola.
In Angola, President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva will be accompanied, among other personalities, by 11 Parliamentarians from his country.
Cooperation between Angola and Brazil began to take shape on June 11, 1980, with the signing of the Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation Agreement.
Under this agreement, the two countries developed bilateral cooperation in the areas of health, culture, public administration, professional training, education, environment, sports, statistics and agriculture.
Brazil was the first country in the world to recognize Angola's independence, proclaimed on November 11, 1975, by then President António Agostinho Neto. JFS/AL/ADR/NIC
