Zango — The Counselor Minister for the US Mission in Angola and Sao Tome and Principe, Mary Emma Arnold, said Thursday in Luanda that her country will continue to support Angola's objectives to attract foreign investment and promote trade and economic diversification.

The US diplomat visited the Special Economic Zone (ZEE) to learn about the potential and investment projects and to indicate potential business partnerships in areas that are business opportunities.

The diplomat said her delegation's visit was useful and important, since it aimed to strengthen existing relations between the two countries, in many different areas, with the support of US companies interested in investing in Angola.

Mary Arnold said that some of the actions of the US government's new trade and investment initiative for Africa targets mainly agribusiness in Angola, to help investors in that sector to overcome barriers to exporting their products to new markets, including the United States of America.

For the diplomat the ZEE may be an important instrument in accelerating economic development and job generation, because taking into account that economic zones boost the economy in the world and Africa, in particular, is no exception.

The diplomat announced that within a month a US financial corporation in partnership with the "Prosper Africa" initiative will be in Luanda to identify projects, through which investments in areas such as health, mineral resources, agriculture, among other sectors of the economy could be supported.

The diplomat urged for continued fight against corruption to create a transparent business environment, urderlining that her government is working to strengthen governance, accountability and the capacity of public finance management in key institutions.

She considers the Angola-US relationship "very solid", having stressed that her country will continue to find ways to strengthen the strategic partnership and meet the shared goals of security, prosperity and good governance.