Africa-Press – Angola. The President of the Republic, João Lourenço, highlighted, this Friday, in Gaborone, the need for joint work between Angola and Botswana to build the economic and social development of both countries.
Speaking during the official dinner offered by his counterpart Mokgweetsi Masisi, as part of his state visit to this country, João Lourenço pointed out the identification of areas of common interest, such as agriculture and livestock, energy and water, industry and commerce, hotels and tourism, geology and mines, petroleum, nature conservation, technical-professional and scientific training, among others.
According to the Angolan statesman, it is up to the two countries to take concrete steps towards the materialization of concerted actions, in the field of bilateral cooperation.
“During today, we reviewed issues related to the various areas of our cooperation, where it became evident the need to redouble efforts in order to create mechanisms that allow us, in a first phase, to concentrate our action and our efforts in the sectors where each of us is stronger, in order to achieve true complementarity between our markets and the necessary reduction of dependence on markets that add less value and competitive advantages”, asserted JoãoLourenço.
The Head of State pointed to the fact that Angola has defined tourism as a priority sector in its economy diversification strategy, a pretension necessarily involves taking advantage of the tourist potential of the Angolan Okavango region, which is an integral part of the regional initiative of the Transfrontier Area of Conservation Okavango Zambezi, comprising Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
“This transnational project is a great example of multilateral cooperation for the preservation of shared wildlife resources, where the elephant stands out, which cross our common border along the migratory corridor of wildlife in Cuando”, stressed the Statesman.
Although Angola has not yet ratified the KAZA Treaty, João Lourenço said that work was being done internally on the Angolan component of the Okavango, with a multisectoral group having been created to analyze and inventory wildlife and land resources, in order to overcome all the constraints that conditioned full participation in this initiative.
The President considered it essential to attract investors, mainly those already operating in Botswana, for the promotion of tourist activity in the Angolan component of the Okavango.
To this end, he announced that the first Investor Forum for the Okavango region of Angola will be held later this year, which represents an opportunity for large investors operating in the Okavango Delta to learn about the potential and business opportunities in the Angolan region.
He highlighted the need for joint work to create incentives aimed at promoting sustainable tourism, based on taking advantage of the natural potential offered by the Okavango and surrounding areas, thus contributing to leveraging the economic and social development of rural communities established in this area.
Given Botswana’s experience in this field, João Lourenço expressed Angola’s intention to have support with regard to the specialized training of Angolan staff regarding the management of the Angolan part of the cross-border conservation area and of parks and natural reserves such as Luengue-Luiana and Mavinga.
“We are grateful for the support provided by Botswana in training Angolan staff in the field of bovine health, as well as in training technicians at the level of veterinary laboratories.
In his view, this idea is reinforced by the fact that the two countries have abundant natural resources, high human potential, geographical proximity, political stability and a historical path that unites peoples.
João Lourenço also pointed out the need to increase the bilateral relationship in the transport sector, with the signing of an air services agreement, a memorandum of technical cooperation in Civil Aviation, the establishment of air routes to boost commercial, cultural and tourist exchange between the Republic of Angola and the Republic of Botswana.
In the field of Mineral Resources, he said that there is interest in deepening, not only at an institutional level, but also at a business level, the exchange with Botswana.
“We are going to work on creating a permanent concertation platform in the fields of exploration, production and marketing of diamonds”, he said.
In the regional domain, João Lourenço added that during the Angolan presidency of SADC he will seek to work with the Member States in order to face the great challenges that the organization faces.
“We cannot in any way remain indifferent to the serious events and their consequences that are taking place on our continent, in Sudan, in the DRC in Mozambique and in the SAHEL region.
João Lourenço also mentioned the Russia/Ukraine conflict and the annexation of part of the Ukrainian territory which, in his view, violates the principles of International Law and constitutes a bad precedent in relations between States, jeopardizing world peace and security.
“All efforts must be made in order to put an end to this war through negotiation between the parties that are considered relevant and decisive for the success of definitive peace in Europe”, he stressed.
The two SADC member countries are determined to relaunch the bilateral relations that date back to the beginnings of Angola’s independence achieved in 1975.
After the establishment of their diplomatic relations, Angola and Botswana signed, in February 2006, a general cooperation agreement that is in the process of being updated, before the signing of new legal instruments.IZ/VM
For More News And Analysis About Angola Follow Africa-Press
