Africa-Press – Angola. Angolan and Zambian businessmen intend to strengthen cooperation in the field of trade in raw materials, with a view to strengthening trade relations between the two countries.
The intention was expressed this Wednesday by the head of the Zambia Development Agency, Obby Banda, in charge of promoting trade and investment in that country, during a fact-finding visit to the Special Economic Zone (ZEE) Luanda-Bengo.
Obby Banda indicated that there are still specific opportunities to complement various value chains with Angola.
“When we visited the Pasta Factory, we found that Angola has little raw material, while we Zambians produce wheat on a large scale, but we do not have a factory in Zambia that produces pasta”, he said.
In this way, he added, Angolans can also invest in this sector, completing the value chain, as a way of increasingly strengthening business.
“We are here specifically looking for business opportunities, in order to increase relations between Angola and Zambia”, he maintained, noting that Angola has great potential in natural resources and a market that interests Zambian businessmen.
For him, the ZEE is a regional and inter-regional area where it is possible to do business, emphasizing, for this purpose, the proximity factor of borders between the two countries, as it facilitates commercial exchanges.
On the other hand, the Executive Director of ZEE, Carla Silvestre, referred that the institution of which she is part is committed to the search for private investment (domestic and foreign), in order to improve the levels of industrialization and economic diversification of the country.
He made it known that the ZEE is also benefiting from the Executive’s action, which has implemented a set of economic and social reforms to mitigate the excessive dependence of the Angolan economy on the oil sector.
He indicated that in the strategy of qualifying investors and internationalizing the Angolan economy, the ZEE is being integrated into the process of the Free Trade Area of the SADC countries, therefore reinforcing the sector to be able to respond to the challenges of the said zone.
The Luanda-Bengo Special Economic Zone (ZEE) was created in 2009, with the aim of contributing to the promotion of national production, job creation and diversification of the Angolan economy.
The group of Zambian businessmen who visited the ZEE is accompanying the President of Zambia, Hakainde Hichilema, on an official visit to Angola.
For More News And Analysis About Angola Follow Africa-Press
