Abidjan — The President of the Republic, João Lourenço, stated, Thursday, that he came to Cotê d'Ivoire to correct the negative trajectory of cooperation between the two countries.

Speaking at the official dinner hosted by his counterpart, Alassane Outtara, as part of his visit to this West African country, he said this visit will relaunch and bring relations between Angola and Côte D'Ivoire to an appropriate level.

He regretted the fact that over these 41 years, the only events worth highlighting in relations were limited to the State visit carried out by the former President of Angola to Côte d'Ivoire, in 1985, and the participation of Alassane Outtara in the inauguration ceremony of the Head of State in 2017.

'Cooperation between our countries should have followed a different path to enforce the spirit that guided the General Cooperation Agreement signed in 1985, but which did not work as expected, in order to boost reciprocal development', he continued

'I came to Côte d'Ivoire determined to work in coordination with Your Excellency and with the competent Ivorian authorities in order to reverse this situation', President João Lourenço said.

To this end, he said that the objective is to continue, with due regularity, the holding of Joint Bilateral Commissions, whose first session 'regrettably and incomprehensibly' was only held in April of this year, therefore 39 years after the signing of the General Agreement of Cooperation.

He expressed his enthusiasm with the perspective that was outlined in today's work and which is reflected in the 14 legal instruments that were signed, as there is a consistent basis for undertaking actions in order to intensify cooperation with concrete results in the sectors of agriculture, staff training and trade.

He also highlighted the health, mining and hydrocarbons, tourism and several other sectors, within which it is the responsibility of the parties to act assertively. ART/DOJ