Nairobi – Angolan President, João Lourenço, emphasised this Saturday the need to resume direct flights between Angola and Kenya.
Speaking to journalists during his state visit to Kenya, João Lourenço said that this would not only bring the people of the two countries closer together, but would also boost trade.
The Angolan statesman said that the Angolan Executive will work to materialise this purpose, soon, to increase trade, a strategic area for leveraging cooperation between the two countries.
João Lourenço considered it important to increase trade and is counting on Kenya to help Angolans in various sectors, with particular emphasis on tourism, a strong point for Kenyans.
"Kenya has an economy based on tourism and agriculture, sectors that are of interest to Angola, which has great potential due to its abundance of natural resources and is looking to diversify its economy that is too dependent on oil," said João Lourenço.
In his speech, João Lourenço emphasised the importance of the four legal instruments signed between the parties, with emphasis on agriculture, science, transport and visa exemption.
João Lourenço expressed his satisfaction that the Kenyan government had announced visa-free travel for Angolan passports and pledged to work towards this in the near future.
During his speech, João Lourenço took the opportunity to invite his counterpart to visit Angola, hoping that the two diplomats would agree on the dates.
The two countries have had relations for several years. In 2012, they signed three legal instruments. These are the General Agreement on Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Co-operation, the Memorandum of Understanding on Political Consultations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Kenya, as well as the Agreement on the creation of the Bilateral Commission.
FMA/VM/DAN/jmc
