Pretoria – President João Lourenço arrived Wednesday in South Africa, for a state visit at the invitation of his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, with the aim to boost bilateral cooperation.
Accompanied by the First Lady, Ana Dias Lourenço, the Angolan Head of State received greetings from South African government authorities, members of the Angolan government and the Angolan embassy at the Waterkloof Air Base.
The president's agenda, which starts on Thursday, includes a meeting with Cyril Ramaphosa, after protocol honors at the Union Buildings Palace. This will be followed by talks between the two government delegations on strengthening cooperation in areas such as energy, defense, higher education, education, culture, youth and sport, among others.
The talks will lead to the signing of various cooperation agreements and memoranda of understanding, instruments that will govern the future of relations between Angola and South Africa.
It is also planned to hold a South Africa-Angola Business Forum, where President Lourenço will address to present the opportunities of his country’s economy's potential for cooperation.
The South African statesman will also speak at the ceremony, which will be attended by several local businesspeople.
Angola and South Africa have long-standing relations of friendship and cooperation. In recent years, the governments have updated their bilateral commitments to tackle economic challenges and promote reforms in both countries.
These areas demonstrate that relations between the two countries go beyond economic aspects and also seek to consolidate historical and regional ties that promote sustainable development and political stability, for the well-being of the respective peoples and nations.AFL/ART/TED/AMP
