Luanda - The Head of State, João Lourenço, analyzed on Thursday in the Province of Luanda, the country's current economic and financial situation, with representatives of business associations that operate in various sectors for the development and diversification of the economy.
The main focus of interaction between the president and representatives of the business class was to search for ideas and consensus to project actions that aim to reduce the effects of the country's current financial and economic situation.
In this regard, the Head of State received, on separate occasions, at the Presidential Palace, Rui Santos, from the National Association of Poultry Farmers (ANAVI), Manuel Pacavira, Association of Cement Industries of Angola (AICA), and Cléber Correia from the Association of Real Estate Professionals of Angola (APIMA), Ramiro Barreira, Association of Hotels and Resorts of Angola (AHRA), António Pacavira from the National Association of Private Education (ANEP) and Henriqueta Carvalho, Federation of Entrepreneurial Women of Angola (FEMEA) were received.
Speaking to the press, representatives of social and economic associations linked to the productive sector stated that they had presented the concerns that affect them to the President of the Republic.
According to the president of ANAVI, Rui Santos, the increase in chicken production by its members depends on more and better investments in the sector and this was one of the subjects discussed with the Head of State.
“To increase chicken production we need more corn and soybeans, food feed, which are highly consumed by birds”, he said.
The leader of AICA, Manuel Pacavira, said that the issue related to fuel supply, at the level of production units and the reduction of the Value Added Tax (VAT), were among other concerns raised.
He stated that currently Angola has a cement production capacity of around eight 8 million tons per year, having considered the cement industry which is very specific.
Cléber Correia from APIMA, said that he presented some financial mechanisms to boost the real estate sector with emphasis to the draft of the alternative diploma to the mortgage (fiduciary alienation), in which the creditor manages to resolve a certain default without the use of the court.
“This makes it possible to establish direct relationships between buyer and seller, causing the private agent to finance the property's owner, a mechanism that does not necessarily involve a third party (financier)”, he stated
Regarding the rise in real estate prices, Cléber Correia said that this happens when there are not enough houses, adding that “The bank credits should operate so that price bubble may drop”.
On his turn, Ramiro Barreira, from the AHRA, considered a conversation about the situation of tourism in the country “very open and clear”, and said that the Head of State had adopted some initiatives to improve and leverage the sector.
“We have many challenges and the biggest one is that we are all united to make Angola a region with solid and strong tourism”, he underlined.
The ANEP chairman, António Pacavira praised the initiative of President João Lourenço for a participative management by highlighting that the association he heads delivered a draft on the industrial tax for a reduction of the current 25% to 10% of the tax.
He revealed also that they also requested the opening of a line of credit for the education sector, similar to what already happens with the sectors of agriculture and industry.
“We need to benefit from subsidized interest rates, because until then we paid very high interest rates. Schools need to invest every year in computers and laboratories”, said António Pacavira, noting that, currently, to equip a laboratory costs around 30 million kwanzas.
Speaking to journalists, Henriqueta Carvalho, from FEMEA, said that she proposed to the president the creation of a financial fund for women, as well as addressed the issue of more support for agriculture, training in agribusiness, industry and literacy.
João Lourenço also received, at different moments, the chairman of the Association of Young Entrepreneurs of Angola (AJEA), Alfredo Cumbi, the leader of the International Youth Forum with Embassies (FUE), Clinton Matias, and the representative of the League of Associations de Pesca (LASPAS), Jorge Hilário.
The Minister of State for Economic Coordination, José de Lima Massano, and the president’s secretary for the Productive Sector, Isaac dos Anjos, attended the hearings. AFL/SC/ADR/MRA/jmc
