Luanda — The levels of production of various goods in the country will make it possible to overcome the weak exports to the United States of America (USA), under the Growth and Opportunity for Africa (AGOA) mechanism, said Tuesday the minister of Industry and Trade, Victor Fernandes.
According to the minister, the Angolan business sector has taken little advantage of AGOA, a mechanism that allows African countries to export to the US, with exemption or extremely low rates.
For this purpose, there is a need for technical assistance and training of the national entrepreneurs, in matters related to the non-tariff barriers existing in the American market, which appear to be the biggest obstacle for national operators.
Speaking during the action "Capacity Building Training on the Export Process, under the AGOA Framework", promoted by the Angolan Private Investment and Export Promotion Agencies (AIPEX) and the American Agency for International Development (USAID), Victor Fernandes pointed out that AGOA is a fundamental instrument for Angola to reach sustainable development in the short term.
"Angola has more than six thousand products eligible for export to the U.S., but, for technical reasons, this transaction is residual in AGOA.
Therefore, it is important to strengthen the role of the commercial attachés, create a favourable environment for the private sector, and assume the execution of the AGOA program," explained the minister.
Thus, he continued, it is necessary to strengthen qualified manpower, the productive capacity, improve quality, in order to meet the demands of the North American market.
On the occasion, the representative of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), William Butterfield, said that AGOA offers enormous opportunities for Africa, particularly for Angola, but it takes knowledge to overcome the apparent technical barriers.
Therefore, clarified the American official, USAID, in partnership with AIPEX, will provide to Angolan businesspersons advisory and technical training opportunities with sustainable solutions for the best use of this trade mechanism.
He said the USA will continue to support Angola's efforts to diversify its economy.
On his turn, AIPEX director, José Sala, considered incipient the export of national products, particularly in the field of agriculture.
"Only two companies export to the United States of America, being one of coffee and the other of processed food products", revealed the manager of AIPEX.
The administrator believes that the low volume of exports to the U.S. is linked to the high level of demand for product quality and technical barriers of non-tariff, a fact that discourages national entrepreneurs.
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Therefore, he went on to explain, it is necessary to provide Angolan entrepreneurs with the knowledge on how to export to the USA.
USAID supports activities to improve the economic environment at the macro and micro level. It also supports the Agriculture Development and Finance Program.
AGOA is a mechanism that allows countries in sub-Saharan Africa to have eligible products to help grow, diversify their exports to the United States, in agriculture, industry, energy and construction.
