Africa-Press – Angola. Six sessions of the Angola-Italy Bilateral Commission mark the 47 years of diplomatic relations and cooperation between the two States, which began on June 4, 1976.
The meetings of the Bilateral Commission served to discuss and approve three-year programs relating to actions and cooperation projects in various domains.
The last session took place in 1991, at a time when Angola was experiencing political and military instability and insolvency in paying the Angolan debt to Italian creditors.
Today, Angola is Italy’s third-largest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa, after South Africa and Nigeria.
The Italian Government considers Angola a priority country for its cooperation strategy in sub-Saharan Africa since 1989.
The two countries formalized diplomatic and cooperation relations on June 4, 1976 and on August 3, 1977 they signed the Technical Cooperation Agreement, as well as the Memorandum of Intentions through which the Angola/Italy Joint Commission was created.
Both States signed the first legal instrument known as the Air Transport Agreement, on April 10, 1976.
In 2014, the President of the Council of Ministers of Italy made a working visit to Angola, within the framework of excellent political-diplomatic relations and of cooperation between the two Governments.
In 2015, the former President of the Republic of Angola, José Eduardo dos Santos, visited Italy, being an important milestone in boosting the strengthening of political-diplomatic relations and cooperation between Angola and Italy.
Still on the Angolan side, in April 2017, the former President of the National Assembly, Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos, made a working visit to the Italian Republic.
This visit culminated in the signing of the Cooperation Protocol between the National Assembly (Angola) and the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Republic.
In July 2017, the then Minister of National Defence, João Lourenço, visited Italy as a special envoy of the Republic of Angola.
At the time João Lourenço met with the President of the Council of Ministers of Italy, Paolo Gentiloni Silveri.
From 26 to 27 November 2017, the President of the Council of Ministers of Italy, Paolo Gentiloni Silveri, was on a working visit to Angola, for contacts within the framework of strengthening bilateral cooperation.
In 2019, the Angolan capital receives the President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, who during a state visit reaffirmed the historic ties of this bilateral cooperation.
On the occasion, President Sergio Mattarella formally invited his Angolan counterpart, João Lourenço, to make a state visit to Italy.
In 2018, from the 24th to the 25th of October, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Angola, Manuel Augusto, participated in the II Edition of the Italy-Africa Ministerial Conference.
The Conference contributed to establishing a dialogue mechanism on issues of mutual interest, as well as representing an opportunity to strengthen bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
On February 6, 2019, during the visit of the President of the Italian Republic, Sérgio Mattarella, to Angola, the parties signed the Memorandum of Understanding between the Angolan Ministry of Finance and the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA of that European country.
Still within the framework of cooperation dynamics, on March 13, 2022,
an Italian delegation, headed by the former Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Luigi Di Maio, made a working visit to Angola.
This aimed to assess and project the current energy situation in the search for new partnerships, within the framework of energy transition and renewable energies.
In April 2022, an Italian delegation was working in Angola, headed by the former Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Luigi Di Maio, on behalf of the former President of the Council of Ministers of Italy, Mario Draghi.
The visit culminated in the signing of the Declaration of Intent for Cooperation in the field of energy between the Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, on behalf of the Government of Angola, and the Minister of Ecological Transition, on behalf of the Italian Government.
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