Africa-Press – Angola. Twenty-three operators transporting products from the countryside in the province of Huambo benefited Saturday, in the commune of Calenga, municipality of Caála, from one van each, with a view to promoting rural trade.
The Kamaz brand vehicles, with capacity for seven tons, were delivered by the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Victor Fernandes, within the scope of the Support Plan for Rural Commerce Merchandise Transport Operators (PAOTMCR), inserted in the Integrated Program for the Development of Rural Commerce (PIDCR).
With this number, the number of operators in Huambo province benefiting from the Plan rises to 33, after the 11 contemplated in April, with three-tonne vans.
Those contemplated acquired the means worth nine million 600 thousand kwanzas, to be paid within a period of four years.
In addition to the vans, in December 2022, under the PAOTMCR, around 80 three-wheel motorbikes were also delivered, in order to facilitate the transport and disposal of products in areas that are difficult for vehicles to access.
When intervening in the delivery of vehicles, Minister Víctor Fernandes made it known that the plan aims to make available to operators the means in a position to guarantee the flow of products from production areas to shopping centres, in order to develop rural trade as a factor of economic development.
In this way, he continued, it is intended to encourage farmers to raise production levels, to strengthen the national food chain, reduce the impact of imports and maximize exports, aiming at the diversification of the economy.
Also according to the official, the Angolan Government wants, with these and other actions, to reinforce the challenges of raising national production to guarantee food self-sufficiency and the stability of the country’s economic sector.
In turn, the governor of Huambo province, Lotti Nolika, said that the funds received will boost the flow of local production and increase productivity.
On the occasion, he appealed to the operators to dedicate themselves, exclusively, to the activity of selling products from the field and to the fulfillment of contractual obligations.
Launched in December 2020, by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the Support for Rural Goods Transport Operators aims to increase the flow capacity from production areas to consumption centres.
The same, which provides for the acquisition of three thousand vehicles, is being implemented on a pilot basis in the provinces of Benguela, Bié, Cuanza Norte, Cuanza Sul, Huambo, Malanje and Namibe, as they are potentially agricultural regions with a high level of productivity. .
In the first phase of the plan, due to end soon, in the province of Namibé, 500 vans were acquired, of which 90 percent have already been distributed to operators in the chosen provinces.
In terms of three-wheel motorcycles, 500 were acquired, all of which are already distributed in the seven provinces, with 80 each, with the exception of Luanda, which took an extra number.
The second phase of the Plan to be implemented soon, 2,500 vans will be distributed in the other provinces.
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