Luanda, May 15, 2025 (Lusa) - Mozambique's minister of foreign affairs, on Thursday expressed the country's desire to intensify relations and economic cooperation with Angola, thanking the latter for its support in the fight against terrorism, said the government in Luanda, where the minister in question is currently on official business.
According to a note from Angola's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, delegations from the governments of the two countries met on Thursday to prepare for the official visit to Angola by the president of Mozambique, Daniel Chapo, during which the plan is for the two sides to sign new legal instruments to boost co-operation in key sectors.
The delegations, led by Angola's minister of foreign affairs, Téte António, and Mozambique's minister for foreign affairs and cooperation, Maria Manuela Lucas, reviewed the current state of bilateral cooperation and identified priority areas for deepening relations, the note adds.
The sectors identified were the economy, trade, industry, agriculture, health, culture, tourism, transport and logistics, finance, mineral resources, technology and treasury, and the Mozambican minister expressed Mozambique's desire to intensify the implementation of the legal instruments signed between the two states.
According to the note, the two countries intend to strengthen political-diplomatic and economic relations, and during the visit of the Mozambican head of state they hope to sign new legal instruments to boost cooperation in key development sectors.
The Angolan minister reiterated President João Lourenço's solidarity with the Mozambican people, "especially in the context of the fight against terrorism" - a reference to years of attacks by Islamist rebels in the north of the country - stressing the importance of cooperation between the two countries within the African Union, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and other regional organisations.
The meeting served to analyse issues related to sectors in the context of strengthening cooperation between the two countries.
"Mutual support in the field of tourism was mentioned, while in the field of planning, Angola and Mozambique expressed their intention, to promote technical exchange between the National Statistical Institutes of both countries," the statement adds.
The Mozambican minister for foreign affairs and cooperation stressed the importance of strengthening communication between Angola's Private Investment and Export Promotion Agency (AIPEX) and Mozambique's Investment and Export Promotion Agency (APIEX), with a view to boosting private investment and exports in both countries.
The Angolan minister said that he was counting on Mozambique's participation in the 17th edition of the US-Africa Business Summit, to be held from 22 to 25 June this year in Luanda.
Angola and Mozambique's bilateral relations are based on the 1978 General Agreement for Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation, which also marks the creation of the Bilateral Cooperation Commission between the two countries.
The two states "share a common path in the fight against Portuguese colonialism, which resulted in the independence of Mozambique on 25 June 1975 and Angola on 11 November of the same year," the statement notes.
Currently, the two countries have a total of 38 legal instruments in force in a wide range of areas, particularly in the mining, fishing, oil and gas sectors.
On 23 April last year, two new legal instruments were initialled, the Verbal Process of the 10th Session of the Angola-Mozambique Bilateral Commission and an Agreement in the field of Health.
NME/ARO // ARO.
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