Lisbon - Foreign minister Téte António on Monday reaffirmed Angola´s excellent relations with Portugal and expressed interest in increasing economic partnership.
Speaking to the press in Lisbon, at the end of a meeting with his Portuguese counterpart, João Gomes Cravinho, the Angolan Foreign minister said that the issue of mobility in the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) region is a matter that continues to deserve the attention of the member states.
The head of the Angolan diplomacy highlighted the fact that the CPLP member states are engaged in improving citizens´ mobility from one country to another.
According to the minister, Angola chairs the CPLP and in the second half of the year it will hand over the portfolio to Sao Tome and Principe, and choose economic aspects as the theme of the presidency, ensuring that everything is being done for it to be further developed.
The Portuguese Foreign minister, João Gomes Cravinho, said that four members of the Portuguese government will travel to Luanda in the coming months to prepare for the visit of Prime Minister António Costa, scheduled for the first half of this year.
Téte António informed that there are several Portuguese ministers scheduled to travel to Luanda in the near future, noting, amongst others, the minister of Finance, the minister of Internal Administration, the minister of National Defence, as well as the minister of Economy and Innovation.
He added that the trips, which would take place over the next two months, are part of a visit to Angola by Portugal's Prime Minister, António Costa, and to prepare the mentioned trip, a commission made up of different ministers from both countries has been created.
On the issue of visas in Luanda for travel to Portugal, Gomes Cravinho admitted that there have been some difficulties due to the growing number of requests, which are mostly positively accepted.
The official said he is aware of the existence of a situation recorded in the last few months related to the significant increase in demand.
He noted that taking into account that there is an increase in demand, there is a feeling of difficulty, but the refusal rate is low, around 3%.
He added that this means that the vast majority of visa requests are granted, but people feel that the process takes too long.
Thus, he said, the Portuguese government decided to allocate more human resources to the Consulate General of Portugal in Angola and the VFS Global company, which does the initial screening of documentation.
As part of efforts to overcome this situation, he informed that the new Consulate General of Portugal in Angola was inaugurated in Luanda, with reinforced capacity.
During his stay in Portugal, the Angolan minister of Foreign Affairs, Téte António, visited the Angolan Consulate in Lisbon, where he was received by the respective Consul-General, Vicência de Brito.
