Africa-Press – Angola. The Prime Minister of Portugal, António Costa, is already at the Presidential Palace in Cidade Alta, in Luanda, for a meeting with the Angolan Head of State, João Lourenço.
João Lourenço received the Prime Minister of Portugal at the entrance to the palace, in a welcoming ceremony with military honors, in which 21 cannon salutes were fired.
Afterwards, the anthems of Portugal and Angola were heard, the two entities reviewed the guard of honour, landed side by side for the photo and presented their respective delegations.
At the end of the meeting, the Portuguese Head of Government and President João Lourenço will speak to the press.
Even at the Palácio da Cidade Alta, there will be official talks between delegations from both countries and the signing of bilateral cooperation instruments.
For Tuesday, António Costa plans to visit Banco Caixa Angola, the Fortress of São Francisco do Penedo, as well as the Portuguese School in Luanda.
In Angola there is a strong presence of Portuguese companies operating in sectors such as construction and banking.
Portugal is also an important exporter of food and beverage products to Angola.
As for Angola, it is the main African investor in Portugal with activities ranging from energy, telecommunications and banking.
Taking into account their dynamism, bilateral relations are considered positive and have been growing over the years.
There are around nine thousand Portuguese companies exporting to Angola, despite the fact that trade has declined significantly in recent years, given the difficulty in accessing foreign exchange and the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the last three (3) years, exports of goods from Angola to Portugal represented a total of USD 1 222 188 726 million and USD 4 581 426 021 million in imports.
The figure corresponds to a negative trade balance of around USD 3,359,237,296 million.
The republics of Angola and Portugal established diplomatic relations on 9 March 1976.
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