Both the South African and Angolan economies are abound with opportunities that the South African and Angolan businesspeople can take advantage of and explore in order to produce food products for the two countries for the purpose of food security.
This was said by the President of the Angola-South Africa Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr Victoriano Nicolau. He was speaking on the sidelines of a business networking session that was hosted by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) in Luanda, Angola.
According to Nicolau, the Angola-South African Business Chamber, which currently boasts about a hundred members, was established in 2017 to create an organised private sector structure that would work closely with government to look into issues faced by companies when doing business in both countries.
The purpose of the session, which Nicolau, was to enable businesspeople that are in Angola to participate in the Filda international trade fair that will be starting in Luanda on Saturday, to interact with their Angolan counterparts to explore possible business opportunities. It is envisaged that these interactions will result in an increase in trade and investment between South Africa and Angola.
“The far-reaching and negative impact of the Ukraine-Russia conflict on food security provides a timely and perfect opportunity for businesspeople from Angola and South Africa to think about how they can work together to come up with ways and means of plugging the gap created by the shortage of products that we import from other countries as a the result of the conflict,” said Nicolau.
He added that there were unlimited opportunities in the agricultural and agro-processing sectors that companies from Angola and SA could collaborate in to produce food products for the two countries in particular, and the SADC region in general, in order to be self-sufficient.
“In this way, we will not only reduce our reliance on imports from other continents, but we will be promoting intra-African trade and investment,” he added.
The session was part of the build-up to the 37th edition of the Luanda international trade fair, commonly known as Filda. The South African companies that attended the session have been supported by the dtic to participate in the popular fair, which was initially scheduled to take place this week but was postponed to begin on Saturday, due to the week of mourning that was declared by the Angolan government after the passing of former Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos.
Nicolau said Filda was a good platform for companies from South Africa and Angola to interact and introduce themselves and their products to each other and identify opportunities for collaboration and partnership to stimulate production.
The President of the Angola-South Africa Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr Victoriano Nicolau addressing a networking session hosted by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) in Luanda, Angola, as the South African Foreign Economic Representative to Angola, Mr Meshack Mathye, who directed proceedings, looks on.
Enquiries:
Bongani Lukhele – Director: Media Relations
Tel: (012) 394 1643
Mobile: 079 5083 457
WhatsApp: 074 2998 512
E-mail: BLukhele@thedtic.gov.za
Issued by: The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic)
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