The minister of Industry and Commerce, Victor Fernandes, said last Wednesday, in Luanda, that the imports carried out from January to March this year give tranquility to the existing stock and guarantee the supply of essential products to the populations in the coming months.
The minister was speaking during a press conference to clarify the delays in the licensing process for importers in the country.
He referred to the need to invest more in domestic production in view of spending on imports, which are close to 450 billion dollars.
He added that the harvest season for some goods produced in Angola begins in May, which may improve the food situation.
As for the delays in licensing, he stressed that the process (via online) reached its peak with a large avalanche in the application system, and it became very slow, since 2,880 orders are placed daily.
He explained that the system is not prepared to work with so many requests, so it had to go into maintenance, but the licensing is not stopped.
“They’ll continue to receive requests, but introducing criteria that prioritize local production and possibilities that guarantee production in the coming months and, based on that, they’ll decide whether it is worthwhile importing such products,” he explained.
He said that no country lives without imports, hence they are working in partnership with the Ministries of Economy and Planning, Agriculture and Fisheries to consolidate information on local production.
On her turn, the national director of Foreign Trade and Mercantile Services, Augusta Fortes, explained that in the system two orders per minute are submitted, totaling 120 processes per hour and approximately 2,880 orders per day.
Source: Angop
