LUANDA, Aug 22 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel valued as fruitful the talks held with his Angolan counterpart, João Lourenço, in which he confirmed the feeling of friendship and mutual trust that distinguish bilateral ties.
The president ratified the willingness of both parties to continue expanding and consolidating these relations in areas of mutual interest, as well as reaffirmed the priority that the Caribbean nation gives to its ties with this country.
It is for us an enormous satisfaction to visit Angola again, the head of State, who listed his official visit to these lands as a long-awaited meeting, constituted a priority, but postponed by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, he said.
Díaz-Canel took the opportunity to convey to the Angolan people a warm greeting from the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Raúl Castro, and thanked the expressions of solidarity received in recent years in the face of extraordinary events that occurred on the island, especially the Angolan graduates in Cuba, known as the Caimaneros.
He said that the Caribbean nation considers the African country as an important counterpart to accompany it in the process of updating its economic and social model.
He added that they hope to jointly and more efficiently take advantage of the potential of the parties to increase commercial and financial relations, in sectors of collaboration, investments and foreign trade, putting them at the level of the excellent and historical political relations.
“Angola is the country in Africa where we have the most diverse collaboration in different spheres, and there are potentials in other areas such as renewable energy sources and biotechnology,” he noted. He ratified the willingness to continue contributing to the development of local human capital and pointed out that issues such as the bilateral economic agenda for the period 2024-2026 are still under negotiation, on which the will to conclude it as soon as possible prevails.
Díaz-Canel expressed his gratitude for the Angolan support in multilateral forums in favor of lifting the U.S. economic, commercial and financial blockade of the island, and against the unjust measures of persecution and harassment that also affect third countries, given its extraterritorial component.
He recalled the solid historical bases that sustain bilateral relations, from the friendship between the first president of Angola, Agostinho Neto, and the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, to the joint struggle to defend the country’s independence and the broad Cuban civilian collaboration.
During the talks, the Caribbean president extended to his counterpart an invitation to officially visit the island, as well as to attend the next Summit of the Group of 77 and China, to be held in Havana on Sept 15-16.
In the presence of Díaz-Canel and Lourenço, representatives of both countries signed agreements on tourism, regulation of medicines, and investments on Monday.
Angolan Minister of Culture and Tourism Filipe Zau and Cuban Ambassador to Luanda Esther Armenteros, who inked the documents on behalf of the Cuban Ministry of Tourism, agreed to work together in the so-called smokeless industry.
Armenteros also penned a memorandum of understanding on behalf of the Cuban Center for the State Control of Medicines, Equipment, and Medical Devices (CECMED), with Katiza Mangueira, Director General of the Angolan Regulatory Agency for Medicines and Healthcare Technologies (ARMED).
Manuel Francisco Pedro, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Luanda-Bengo Special Economic Zone, who established relations with the Mariel Special Development Zone (ZEDM) in Cuba, signed the third agreement.
