Gaborone - The President of the Republic, João Lourenço, on Friday in Gaborone stressed the need for joint work between Angola and Botswana to build the economic and social development of the two countries.
Speaking during the official dinner hosted by his counterpart Mokgweetsi Masisi, as part of the state visit to this country, João Lourenço pointed out the identification of areas of common interest, such as agriculture, energy and water, industry and commerce, hospitality, tourism, geology, mining, oil, nature conservation, technical and scientific training, among others.
To him, the two states should be responsible for taking the appropriate steps so that concentrated actions can be implemented in the field of bilateral cooperation.
"Today, we reviewed issues related to the various areas of our cooperation, where it became clear that we need to redouble our efforts to create mechanisms that allow us, in a first phase, to concentrate our action and our efforts in the sectors where each of us is stronger, in order to achieve a true complementarity between our markets and the necessary reduction of dependence on markets that aggregate less value and competitive advantages", said João Lourenço.
He pointed out that Angola defined tourism as a priority sector given its strategy in the economy diversification, which specifically aims to harness the tourism potential of Angola's Okavango region, which is part of the Okavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area regional initiative comprising Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
"This transnational project is a great example of multilateral cooperation for the preservation of shared wildlife resources, most notably the elephant, which crosses our common border along the Cuando wildlife migratory corridor", the statesman stressed.
Although Angola has not yet ratified the KAZA Treaty, João Lourenço added that internally the country is working in the Angolan Okavango´s region and for that a multisectorial group with the task to analyse and inventorying of wildlife and land resources in order to overcome the constraints towards full participation in these initiative.
The Head of State considered it crucial to attract investors, mainly those who already operate in Botswana to boost tourism activity in the Angolan component of the Okavango.
To this end, he announced that the first Investors Forum for the Angolan Okavango region will be held this year, which represents an opportunity for major investors operating in the Okavango Delta to learn about the potential and business opportunities in the Angolan region.
He emphasized the need for a joint work for the establishment of incentives aiming to promote a sustainable tourism based on the use of natural potentials from the Okavango and surrounding areas, thus contributing to boosting the economic and social development of the rural communities established in this area.
Taking into account the experience of Botswana in this sector, Presisent Lourenço expressed the will to train Angolan cadres for the management of the Angolan part of the transboundary conservation area and of parks and nature reserves such as Luengue-Luiana and Mavinga.
"We appreciate the support provided by Botswana in the training of Angolan staff in the field of livestock health, particularly cattle, as well as in the training of technicians at the veterinary laboratories level. Angola is very interested in expanding the space for cooperation in the agriculture and livestock sector, production of animal vaccine, exchange of experiences in the fight against trypanosomiasis and veterinary research", João Lourenço added.
In his view, this idea is reinforced by the fact that the two countries have vast natural resources, high human potential, geographical proximity, political stability and a historical path that unites the peoples.
João Lourenço also pointed to the need to increase bilateral relations in the transport sector, with the signing of an air services agreement, a memorandum of technical cooperation in civil Aviation, the establishment of air routes to boost commercial, cultural and tourist exchanges between the Republic of Angola and the Republic of Botswana.
Regarding Mineral Resources, he said that there is interest in deepening exchanges with Botswana, both at institutional and business level.
The Head of State pledged that Angola will work on the creation of a permanent concertation platform in the areas of diamond exploration, production and trading, while in the regional field, he said that during the Angolan presidency of Southern African Development Community (SADC) he will seek to work with member states to address the major challenges facing the organisation.
"We cannot, in any way, remain silent towards the serious events and their consequences that are taking place on our continent, in Sudan, in the DRC in Mozambique and in the SAHEL region. We are also concerned about the situation in the Middle East where the Israeli-Palestinian conflict seems to have no end in sight despite the solution found by the United Nations Security Council but which is not implemented", he pointed out.
João Lourenço also noted that the Russia/Ukraine conflict and the annexation of part of Ukrainian territory which, in his view, violates the principles of International Law and constitutes a bad precedent in relations between States, jeopardising world peace and security.
"Every effort must be made to end this war through negotiation between the parties that are considered relevant and decisive for the success of the definitive peace in Europe", he emphasised.
The two Southern African Development Community member countries are determined to relaunch bilateral relations that date back to the early days of Angola's Independence achieved in 1975.
Following the establishment of their diplomatic relations, Angola and Botswana signed a general cooperation agreement in February 2006, which is in the process of being updated.
IZ/VM/MRA/jmc
