Africa-Press – Angola. The ambassador of the Kingdom of Spain in Angola, Manuel Lejarreta Lobo, was this Tuesday in Lobito, Benguela province, where he found out about the infrastructure, operations and growth prospects of the local port.
Speaking to the press, the ambassador stated that Angola is a very important partner for Spain, hence the reason for coming to Benguela to see in loco one of the main infrastructures linked to the Lobito Corridor and learn about the advantages of imported products and exported to Europe, through the Port of Lobito.
He made a point of expressing his country’s interest in cooperation with Angola, both in the political and economic sectors, citing the example of the recent visit of King Filipe VI, as being the first in a country in sub-Saharan Africa.
“We want to boost economic and business relations and increase Spain’s investment in Angola. We have already had more investments in the past, it went down due to Covid-19, but the prospects are very good”, said Manuel Lejarreta.
At the meeting he had with the Board of Directors of Porto, the diplomat revealed that around 40 Spanish companies are operating in Angola.
Manuel Lejarreta Lobo watched the institutional video where he obtained, among other information, the geographic location of the Port of Lobito, port security, infrastructure, human resources and ISPS Certification (International Code for the Protection of Ships and Port Facilities).
The Chairman of its Board of Directors, Celso Rosas, expressed his satisfaction and thanked him saying that “it is always good to receive eminent figures from international politics”.
He recognized, on the other hand, that there were still many weaknesses in the company, but he was confident in growth, continuing to work with more advanced countries such as Spain.
“We believe that there is a lot to be done, especially in the field of training, where we can look for Spanish experts with experience in port management and beyond, bring them to our country and be able to do more and better, always with a view to improving the our performance, which is fundamentally focused on the efficiency of our services,” he said.
Questioned whether the Trafigura, Vecturis and Mota Engil consortium has already started to operate, the PCA informed that everything indicates that it will materialize in the first half of this year.
“We will have a new reality, in which our status as a port lord will be felt, although still in a hybrid way, because we will continue to operate in other terminals”, he explained.
At the moment, Porto is preparing a set of preliminary actions such as documents, infrastructure, workers and the work that must previously be carried out in light of the contract.
The Port of Lobito, along with the Benguela Railway (CFB), is an important infrastructure in the Lobito Corridor, which asserts itself as one of the main axes for the circulation of raw materials, products and goods, not only within of the countries it crosses (Angola, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo), but above all the connection it establishes with the world market.
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