Menongue – Foreign investors gathered Wednesday in the city of Menongue, capital of the province of Cuando Cubango, at the first investor forum in the Angolan Okavango region, highlighted the existing potential and tourism opportunities in Angola’s side.
Speaking to ANGOP on the sidelines of the forum, businessman Portuguese Paulo Carvalho said that, given the natural and landscape characteristics, there are many possibilities for various types of tourism, from observation, photography and hunting, which can create several jobs.
In order for this desideratum to be achieved, he pointed to the urgent need for policies that aim to promote and minimize all accessibility.
He stressed that, although there is already a great effort by the Executive in this area, the commitment has to be accelerated, because the infrastructures are still far below the expectations of tourism operators.
'There should be some ease in the bureaucratic part, because the forum will be the step and the way to boost and enhance all this investment', he stressed.
On the other hand, he considered that the visa waiver is an extremely important step. but investors must be encouraged more to create their 'Lodges and Resorts', as well as train people to drive with quality, arguing that to have quality tourism it is also necessary to have a good offer.
For his part, businessman from the United Kingdom Deon Engelbrect said that he has investments in the neighboring republics of Namibia and Zambia, where he operates in the area of tourism and catering, but considered the varieties of Angola's flora and fauna extraordinary, highlighting the possibility of sport fishing and photographs.
He pointed out that the region has the largest number of large animals, such as the Elephant, Rhinoceros, Zebra and Buffalo, which can attract tourists and investors from all regions of the world.
About the forum, he said that it is an opportunity not only to present the potential in terms of tourism, but also to master other areas of activity, such as agriculture, through the use of the enormous arable land, as well as the existing water resources in abundance.
Rhys Mansel, project manager for demining operator The Hello Trust, said his company has been operating since 1994, with the priority of eliminating all explosive devices left by the war and creating resilient and thriving communities.
He recalled that the operator operates in the Angolan Okavango region and has been striving to make the area suitable for any investment, noting that southwestern Angola is very fertile for tourism and has one of the highest levels of biodiversity on the African continent.
More than 200 guests are attending the forum, including national and foreign investors, with emphasis on those from the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Zambia, Namibia and Botswana, who are looking for investment partnerships in ecotourism, tourism and the promotion of agriculture, depending on local potential.
The event includes three panels on institutional vision to attract investments, presentation of business potential and opportunities in the Angolan Ovakango Region and development in the regional context. MSM/FF/PLB/DOJ
