Luanda - The French ambassador, Sophie Aubert, considered the focus on human capital to be one of the main gains of cooperation between her country and Angola, focused on training, sustained by the signing of the General Cooperation Agreement in 1982.
In an exclusive interview to ANGOP, to be published soon, as part of France's National Day (July 14), Sophie Aubert stressed that, after the signing of the General Cooperation Agreement, the two countries began to focus on higher education and vocational training.
The diplomat admitted that it wasn't easy to make a detailed assessment of 42 years of cooperation, having highlighted the joint actions carried out in the human capital training sector, which allowed Angolans to train in France and locally, through the Eiffel School network and cooperation programs.
Sophie Aubert also highlighted food security, agriculture, preservation of the environment and consolidation of sustainable infrastructures as current priorities for both countries.
To illustrate the joint actions in favor of training, the diplomat mentioned a program of the Ministry of Education that aims to implement the teaching of the French language, starting from the fifth grade, as well as the training of teachers and trainers.
As regards to agriculture, the diplomat said the partnership with the French Development Agency has been beneficial in terms of irrigation, renovating technical agricultural institutes and revising their curricula.
Evaluating three agreements signed in 2018, the ambassador was satisfied with their implementation in the civil aviation sector, with Air France currently operating five flights a week, while in the tourism sector, not so much has been done due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The French diplomat added that in regarding the agricultural sector, various actions have been taken, such as the agreement on agricultural production signed during President Emmanuel Macron's visit to Angola on March 2 and 3, 2023.
Sophie Aubert said there are more than 100 French companies operating in Angola, 57 of which are subsidiaries and 54 created by French people working in the country, generating a total of 15,000 jobs.
As for investments, the diplomat considered her country to be the leading investor in Angola, with around 40 billion Euros, translated into a "strong and impactful presence of the French economic sector in Angola".
The diplomat said trade between the two countries has been characterized by a constant variation from one year to another.
In 2022, France/Angola trade totaled 3.7 billion Euros, while in 2023 it was 1.9 billion Euros.
France celebrates its National Day on July 14th, in memory of the historic episode of the storming of the Bastille in 1789, when the popular character of the French Revolution began.BS/ADR/CF/AMP
