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Angola open to mining and infrastructure cooperation with Saudi Arabia: ambassador
Riyadh: Angola is ready to cooperate with Saudi Arabia in mining, the ambassador said, as the African country wants to extract minerals including copper, nickel and lithium.
Speaking to Arab News on the sidelines of the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh, Frederico Manuel dos Santos e Silva Cardoso spoke about the relationship between his country and the Kingdom, saying investment can flow between the two countries.
In addition to mining, he also listed infrastructure development as a possible area of cooperation.
His comments came days after the Federation of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and the Angolan Chamber of Commerce and Industry signed a memorandum of understanding to promote economic ties between the two countries.
The MOU includes a program of delegation visits, as well as the exchange of information on markets and investment opportunities.
“Angola is also working on economic diversification,” Cardoso said, referring to Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plan to wean the country’s economy off oil.
“We can work in multiple mining areas. Angola, for example, has copper, cobalt, nickel, lithium, diamonds, but also ornamental rocks, and those are areas where we can collaborate,” he added.
Regarding the infrastructure work, the ambassador said: “We have the opportunity to do PPP projects – public-private partnerships.
“That’s one of the areas we’re trying to get the two countries to work together.”
Relations between Angola and Saudi Arabia have strengthened in recent years and the southern African country will open an embassy in Riyadh in 2021.
Bilateral relations between Saudi Arabia and Angola began in 2007 and were strengthened in 2019 with the visit of a high-level Saudi delegation to the southern African country.
Referring to the recent memorandum of understanding, Cardoso said it was a “first step” in helping to strengthen ties between private companies in the two countries.
“This memorandum of understanding will establish the main lines of cooperation between the two parties and will be a way of raising the profile of Angola in Saudi Arabia and for Angolan businessmen to know about Saudi Arabia. I see this as an opportunity for Angolan and Saudi businessmen to work directly together , to look for opportunities in both countries,” he added.
Looking ahead, the ambassador said Angola and the Kingdom could find ways to “promote and protect investments that each country can make”.
“We are prepared to negotiate investment opportunities in Angola on a case-by-case basis,” Cardoso explained.
“We have to work within the framework of a legal memorandum of understanding or a legal contract because we have to create a basic platform on which both countries can work. For example, we are trying to create a legal agreement to avoid double taxation,” he said. Say.
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