Africa-Press – Angola. The President of the Republic, João Lourenço, valued, this Tuesday, in Luanda, the level of economic cooperation achieved between Angola and Austria, with emphasis on the Austrian investments made in the country, in the energy and health sectors.
Speaking at a joint press conference, as part of the 48-hour visit to Angola by the Chancellor of Austria, Karl Nehammer, the Angolan statesman referred to the three turbines supplied by an Austrian company that currently produce 2,000 megawatts of energy at the power plant. Hydroelectric dam of Laúca, in the province of Malanje.
In highlighting the cooperation, João Lourenço also referred to the two new reference hospital units, under construction in the municipalities of Viana and Cacuaco, in Luanda, works that should be completed this year, in charge of an Austrian consortium.
In the wake of bilateral cooperation, the Angolan Head of State defends a joint partnership with Austria, where both countries and businessmen win.
The Angolan Executive, informed the President of the Republic, counts on private investment from Austria in all areas of the national economy and has done everything to improve the business environment every day.
He said that in the private conversation held with the Chancellor he spoke of the Angolan Executive’s interest in seeing the Austrian Government’s involvement in financing a project to combat drought in southern Angola, which aims to save human lives.
In this regard, he explained that with regard to the program to fight the drought, Chancellor Karl Nehammer showed interest in working with the banking sector in his country to finance part of the programme.
Cooperation
The republics of Angola and Austria established political-diplomatic and cooperation relations on October 14, 1981.
Relations between the two States, although timid, show potential for growth in areas in which Austria has the know-how and which are of interest to the Angolan economy, such as health, oil and food industry, environmental protection, renewable energies, technologies, professional training, culture and tourism.
The framework of economic cooperation between Angola and Austria is characterized by the availability of subsidized credits from the Austrian Government, which vary between three (3) and seven (7) million euros, depending on the project presented by the country, intended to finance social projects in Least Developed Countries (LDCs), in the health sector, civil protection, railways, waste treatment, wastewater management and drinking water supply.
Of particular note, in trade, was the import of equipment for the Laúca hydroelectric dam, supplied by the Austrian company Andritz Hydro, which has collaborated with Angola since 1953, through which the import of equipment, between 2013 and 2016, reached around 200 million euros.
Russia-Ukraine conflict
As for the situation caused by the war between Russia and Ukraine, President João Lourenço informed that the two countries condemn the Russian invasion of that European country and advocate an immediate ceasefire and consequently dialogue between the parties, with a view to lasting peace.
According to João Lourenço, peace in that region will benefit the development of the two neighboring countries and also of the entire European continent.
“Everything must be done to avoid a generalized war, which, if it happened, would be a disgrace to humanity”, he said.
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