Africa-Press – Angola. The Angolan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Téte António, reaffirmed, this Monday, the excellent relations that Angola maintains with Portugal and expressed interest in increasing the partnership in the economic field.
Speaking to the press, in Lisbon, at the end of a meeting with his Portuguese counterpart, João Gomes Cravinho, Téte António said that the issue of mobility in the CPLP region is an issue that continues to deserve attention from member states.
The head of Angolan diplomacy underlined the fact that member states of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) are committed to improving the mobility of citizens from one country to another.
According to the minister, the country that holds the presidency of the CPLP, and which will hand over the portfolio in the second half of 2023 to São Tomé and Príncipe, chose the economic aspect as the subject of the presidency, guaranteeing that everything is being done so that it be further developed.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Portugal, João Gomes Cravinho, informed that four members of the Portuguese Government will travel to Luanda, in the coming months, to prepare the visit of the Prime Minister, António Costa, scheduled for the first half of the year. ongoing.
“There are several ministers
scheduled to travel to Luanda in the near future”, he said, having pointed out, among them, those of Finance, Internal Administration, National Defence, as well as the Economy and Innovation.
He added that the referred trips, which take place over the next two months, are part of the visit to Angola by the Prime Minister of Portugal, António Costa.
He informed that in order to prepare the visit of Prime Minister António Costa, a commission was created with representatives of different ministers from both countries.
Regarding the issuance of visas, in Luanda, for Portugal, Gomes Cravinho admitted that there have been some difficulties due to the growing number of requests, but stressed that the overwhelming majority of visa requests are answered positively.
The same official considers that there is a situation in which there has been a significant increase in demand in recent months. As there is an increase in demand, he noted, there is a feeling of difficulty, but the rejection rate is small, around three percent.
Which means, he continued, that the vast majority of visas are granted, but people feel that the procedure takes too long, he added.
Thus, he said, the Portuguese Government decided to allocate “more human resources to the Consulate General of Portugal in Angola and the company VFS, which does the initial screening of documentation.
As part of efforts to overcome this situation, he recalled that the new facilities of the General Consulate of Portugal in Angola were inaugurated in Luanda, with increased capacity.
During his stay in Portugal, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Angola, Téte António, visited the Consulate of Angola in Lisbon, where he was received by the respective Consul General, Vicência de Brito.
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