Africa-Press – Angola. The President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, ended his state visit to Angola this Sunday, having traveled to São Tomé and Príncipe, where he is participating, sunday, in the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the CPLP.
At the “4 de Fevereiro” International Airport, the Brazilian Head of State received farewell greetings from the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Esmeralda Mendonça, from other members of the Executive and from employees of the Brazilian Embassy.
During his stay in Luanda, where he arrived on Thursday from South Africa, President Lula da Silva laid a wreath on Friday in the sarcophagus of the first President of the Republic of Angola, António Agostinho Neto.
The Brazilian Head of State’s agenda included a visit to the Dr. António Agostinho Neto Memorial, where he signed the institution’s Book of Honor.
Also on Friday at the Presidential Palace, in Cidade Alta, Lula da Silva had a working meeting with his counterpart João Lourenço, was decorated with the Agostinho Neto Order and witnessed the signing of agreements between the two countries.
In the afternoon, the Brazilian Head of State delivered a speech to the National Assembly, during a special solemn session held in his honor.
In the early evening, Lula da Silva and João Lourenço participated in the closing session of the Angola-Brazil Economic Forum.
On Saturday, the President of Brazil’s agenda included the inauguration of Espaço Ovídio de Melo, a meeting with the Brazilian community residing in Angola and a farewell ceremony for his Angolan counterpart.
Angola and Brazil formalized the beginning of bilateral cooperation in 1977, with the signing of the first Memorandum in 1977, two years after the proclamation of the independence of the Angolans, in 1975.
Brazil was the first country in the world to recognize Angola’s independence, proclaimed by President António Agostinho Neto, on 11 November.
The two countries have also worked to strengthen and deepen their relationship within the CPLP, with emphasis on issues of mobility agreements, investment facilitation and elimination of double taxation.
commercial exchanges
In terms of trade, in 2022, Angola exported USD 574 million to Brazil (essentially oil) and imported USD 715 million from that country (with food leading the ranking).
Last year, the trade balance was negative for Angola by USD 142 million.
Angola’s debt to Brazil, which in 2018 was around USD 820 million, was practically all paid in 2019.
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