Belgian Government has expressed its interest in cooperating with Angola in the renewable energy sector, said the European country’s minister of Foreign Affairs, Hadja Lahbib.
The Belgian top diplomat, who confirmed this Wednesday after the audience granted by the Angolan Head of State João Lourenço, added that her country also wants to focus in terms of cooperation in exploration of Lobito Port and mining area, both in coastal Benguela province.
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Hadja Lahbib described the two countries’ long standing cooperation as excellent and she was pleased with the audience granted by the Angolan statesman, João
Lourenço.
The Belgian diplomat said that among the topics, the meeting with the President of the Republic discussed the conflict in Ukraine. “We talked about this situation.
Our satisfaction is that we share the same views”. She is of the view that this helps understand that this conflict had no reason to take place. “We support here the statements that the President made recently in which he defended an unilateral ceasefire by Russian side”, she said.
Hadja Lahbib, who is Belgian minister of Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and Foreign Trade and Cultural Institutions, has been in Luanda since Tuesday (31) for a 72-hour visit to Angola, at the invitation of the minister of Foreign Affairs, Téte António.
Angola-Belgium Political-Diplomatic Relations
Political-diplomatic relations between Angola and Belgium began in 1979. At the top of this partnership is the Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation Agreement, signed on April 26, 1983.
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The document set the regulatory legal framework for bilateral cooperation and established the Joint Commission, which had its last session in 1992, in Brussels.
Highlight is place on the General Cooperation Agreement signed on 26 July, 1983, in force since the date of signature.
On July 4, 1988, a Memorandum of Understanding on Air Services was sealed. This was followed by an agreement on the Intervention “Support for the Fight against Trypanosomiasis in the province of Cuanza Norte”.
Economic cooperation
In the economic field, the contract between the Belgian International Care Service and the Angolan Unitel, signed in October 2013, stands out.
This is the first 4G roaming contract signed by an Angolan company.
In October (2013), a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between BBVA BREVISCO and the Angolan Financial Management Company (GEFI). The
referred Memorandum outlined the guidelines for the Construction of a factory in Benguela for the processing of fish.
Also in October 2013, the contract and announcement of the opening of a Flanders Investment and Trade antenna in Angola, in the province of Luanda, was registered.
The partnership between Angola and Belgium has also registered an agreement in the field of construction between FRISOMAT and a Belgian construction company, for
the construction of a bottle factory.
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Industry
In the industrial field, there is a contract between Cuca and Planet Europe to finance the production of work uniforms and personal protection. The two countries also cooperate in the field of Mutual Administrative Assistance in Customs Matters and in the segment of Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments.
