Africa-Press – Angola. Angola has conditions to become a power in the sector of transformation and processing of fish, said, this Monday, in the municipality of Viana, in Luanda, the minister of Industry and Commerce.
Victor Fernandes, who was speaking at an opening ceremony for Atlântico Foods Limitada, a fish processing and processing factory, in the Industrial Pole of Viana, guaranteed that “the way is being made for the country to have more units” of the kind .
“Our maritime economy is one of the most important in the world”, said the Minister of Industry and Commerce, stressing that “countries like ours, which have such a large coastline and a variety of primary products, must have instruments to add value to the fish chain”.
The minister of Industry and Commerce acknowledged that Angola still does not have a manufacturing industry capable of guaranteeing self-sufficiency.
Regarding the factory inaugurated this Monday, the minister said that “the entire structured investment for the fish value chain is extremely important”, expressing hope that the factory will focus, in a first phase, on internal distribution.
On the occasion, Minister Victor Fernandes reaffirmed the institutional support of the ministerial department that addresses investors and guaranteed that support is extended to all promoters interested in investing in the industrial sector.
In turn, the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, António Francisco de Assis, congratulated the promoters of the business initiative, stressing that it is an investment that the sector needs.
Issuing and obtaining a fishing license is a procedure that needs to be improved, defended the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, who said that semi-industrial and industrial fishing, practiced in the country, is carried out by European Union vessels, from China, Russia and other countries that associate with Angolan companies.
António Francisco de Assis emphasized the fact that artisanal fishing is still the biggest source of fish consumption by the Angolan population.
Atlantic Foods administrator António Cartaxo said that the factory, which employs 40 workers and is the tenth of its kind in Angola, was created so that the country stops importing processed fish.
The factory has a monthly production capacity of between 70 and 100 tons of fish and cold storage of 1250 cubic meters, located in an area of 1,000 square meters, in the Industrial Development Pole of Viana.
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