Beijing — The city of Beijing hosted this Wednesday the preparatory meeting of the Angola-China Business Forum, which assessed, among other issues, investment opportunities in the agricultural sector.
The Business Forum is one of the items on the agenda of the visit of the Angolan President, João Lourenço, to the People's Republic of China, which officially begins Friday (15), with a view to strengthening bilateral and strategic cooperation.
The preparatory meeting served to align the strategic points of cooperation in the agricultural sector, and brought together investors and technicians from both states, some of them already with investments in Angola.
On the occasion, the president of the Angola-China Chamber of Commerce, Luís Cupenala, stated that the two countries should turn their attention to other markets and sectors, such as agriculture, where large investments are needed.
He mentioned that one of the key moments of this state visit by the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, will be the signing of the protocol between the two governments in the agriculture sector.
On the other hand, the president of the Board of Directors of the Private Investment and Export Promotion Agency (AIPX), Arlindo Rangel, said that economic diplomacy has food security at its peak.
He highlighted that the Angolan Head of State is the biggest promoter of attracting investment for Angola, and therefore "it is necessary to make a turn and start telling the world, in particular China, that Angola intends to pay great attention to food security".
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Agriculture and food security top priorities
Angola and China are strategic partners, with political-diplomatic and cooperation relations that have seen a notable increase since 2000.
In recent years, their partnership has been expanded to several areas outside of oil, which has attracted several Chinese investors to agricultural exploration areas.
To boost the agricultural sector, the Government of Angola launched, in 2022, the development plan for wheat, rice, soybeans and corn, called "Planagrão", which expects to produce, from 2027, six million tons of cereals/year.
The plan will initially be developed in the provinces of Moxico, Lunda-Norte, Lunda-Sul and Cuando-Cubango, on an area of two million hectares, with an estimated global cost of 1.6 billion Kz ($1.914.160).
The Executive estimates that Angola needs to produce close to 10 million cereals to feed a population estimated at 32 million people.
The chosen provinces have their own characteristics and suitable climatic conditions for the implementation of Planagrão.
The National Grain Production Promotion Plan (Planagrão) foresees an average annual investment of around $670 million for the production of wheat, rice, soybeans and corn, and around $471 million annually for the construction and rehabilitation of grain infrastructures to support the productive and social sector.
