Luanda - Angolan Foreign minister Téte António on Tuesday in Prague city confirmed that Angola and the Czech Republic maintain bilateral cooperation based on 16 legal instruments, which has been going on since 1993 and is moving into a new era, with President João Lourenço's two-day visit to that country, at the invitation of his counterpart, Petr Pavel.
The Head of State's programme includes, among other things, talks between the two countries' presidential delegations, as well as visits to the Czech Senate and Chamber of Deputies. He will also meet Prime Minister Petr Fiala.
President João Lourenço will also be honoured at an official dinner hosted by his Czech counterpart.
Téte António informed that the two countries will sign a memorandum on public policies with the aim of identifying and setting a new co-operation framework especially in the agricultural, health and education sectors.
The two states have historical ties, but the Angolan Foreign minister also recognises that relations have not yet reached the expected level, which is why the Angolan Head of State is visiting with the aim of strengthening cooperation.
"We formalised a diplomatic relations agreement with the Czech Republic. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, there was a geopolitical reconfiguration in this region, which is the Czech Republic, and being the Czech Republic in 1993 we signed an agreement formalising diplomatic relations. But from 1993 until now, we have to consider that co-operation with the Czech Republic has not been at the levels it should have been", explained Téte António.
He added that the Angolan government wanted to relaunch this relationship with the Czech Republic, above all to give more substance to economic co-operation.
João Lourenço leaves Prague on Thursday.
The Czech Republic is a Central European country with a population of over 10.7 million.
Angola and Czech Republic political relationship dates back to the Cold War period, when the country was linked to the Slovak Republic, then Czechoslovakia, which disintegrated on 1 January 1993, when they were part of the socialist bloc.
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