Angola’s relations with Mozambique have been neglected by both – Georges Chikoti

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Angola’s relations with Mozambique have been neglected by both – Georges Chikoti

5:37 CAT | 10 May 2016

Lusa (File photo) / Georges Chikoti, Angolan minister of Foreign Affairs

The Angolan foreign minister, Georges Chikoti, said in Maputo yesterday that relations between Mozambique and Angola had been neglected by the governments of both countries.

“There’s been some neglect between the parties; we could have done much more to boost cooperation,” Chikoti told a press conference after meeting Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosario.

Remarking on the historical ties between the two countries, Chikoti said that Mozambique and Angola needed to accelerate cooperation, and that the distance between the two countries could not be an obstacle.

Energy, agriculture and tourism were identified as priority sectors, and the more than 20 agreements that exist between the two countries must move from the theoretical to the practical, the minister said.

“We share the same language and the same history, and this should be an incentive,” he said, noting that regular meetings between Angolan and Mozambican businessmen are needed.

This visit, the minister said, had “relaunched relations” between the two countries, with ways to implement memoranda already signed under discussion.

“You have to realize that countries usually have agreements, but the important thing is to encourage these relations,” Chikoti concluded, saying that “there is still much that can be done” between Mozambique and Angola.

The two governments signed an agreement on visa facilitation in Maputo in February as a way of boosting private sector trade relations, and in November 2105 Angola pardoned half of Mozambique’s debt, thought to be about US$30 million (EUR 26 million). The remainder is to be converted into economic assets in Mozambique.

Source: Lusa