Luanda - The Angolan Head of State, João Lourenço, on Thursday in Pretoria, proposed a technical evaluation, as soon as possible, of the agreements signed between Angola and South Africa, in order to make them more functional, efficient and fundamental.
The Angolan President made the statement at the opening of official talks between the governments of the two countries, as part of his state visit to South Africa, aimed at strengthening cooperation.
João Lourenço stressed the need for the parties to implement the agreement between the two governments on the establishment of a binational commission, which was supposed to hold its first meeting in Luanda in 2019, but for various reasons never took place, proposing that it be held in the first half of 2025, in Luanda.
The Angolan President stressed the need for more frequent meetings of the Bilateral Cooperation Commission, in order to promote economic cooperation and business exchanges between Angola and South Africa in important sectors of the national life of each country.
"I believe that this is an opportune moment for us to review relevant issues related to the different areas of our cooperation and to define strategies that will allow us to concentrate our actions and efforts in these sectors, in order to achieve real complementarities based on the greatest potential that exists in each of our countries," said Lourenço.
Lourenço pointed out that the last few years of cooperation have been "very fruitful", allowing for numerous exchanges in different areas, with results that deserve a positive assessment.
This scenario, according to the Head of State, shows that Angola and South Africa have a firm and clear will to take bilateral relations to a higher level than those that already exist.
For this reason, the Angolan President said it was a great honor to make this visit and that it is increasingly urgent and necessary to meet more frequently with his counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, in order to address key issues related to peace and security, development and the well-being of the citizens of both countries, the Southern African region and the African continent in general.
Investment
The Angolan President considered that South African investment in Angola has been growing satisfactorily, with a large number of companies from this nation entering the Angolan market, bringing added value to important sectors of the national economy, such as finance, telecommunications, transport, logistics and distribution, a fact that deserves every appreciation from Angola.
Given the recognized experience and capacity of the South African business community and the exponential growth of this sector in Angola, Lourenço considered it necessary and essential to continue working together to identify potential areas of partnership to promote investment and improve the competitiveness of companies in both countries.
João Lourenço stressed the need to strengthen bilateral relations in other sectors, such as mineral resources, oil and gas, health, culture, sports, education and higher education, adding that Angola would welcome strengthened partnerships that facilitate the exchange of experiences and the training of personnel in those areas where South Africa has proven experience, knowledge and a volume of resources.
The Angolan President said he expects that his visit will re-launch and boost economic cooperation and business exchanges between Angola and South Africa, based on equality and mutual benefit.
The cooperation between Angola and South Africa has solid historical and strategic foundations, stemming from mutual support during the struggle for independence and against apartheid.
The two countries signed the General Agreement for Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation in 1998 in Luanda.
Several other legal instruments of cooperation have also been signed between the two countries, including the creation of the Bilateral Cooperation Commission in 2000, a diplomatic mechanism of crucial importance that has been the main means of interaction in recent years, with four meetings to date, held alternately in Pretoria and Luanda, which have enabled cooperation activities to be carried out.AFL/RB/ART/ted/AMP
