Angola welcomes Costa in September
António Costa will visit Angola later this year, in September. Portuguese-Angolan relationships shall improve considering the double taxation issue is solved.
Costa’s long-awaited visit to Angola has finally been scheduled for the 17th and 18th of September, with both governments committing fully to reaching a comprehensive agreement on the double taxation issue that has been hovering over their heads.
Foreign affairs minister, Augusto Santos Silva, announced the dates for the official visit earlier this morning at NATO’s Summit in Brussels which he is attending with the Portuguese PM. It had been stated earlier this week by both governments’ officials that the dates would soon be released.
Reportedly the Angolan external affairs minister, Manuel Domingos Augusto, hand-delivered a letter sent by the Angolan president João Lourenço to the Portuguese PM this Monday, and both countries’ foreign affairs executives confirmed during a press conference that same day that the official visit would happen before the UN’s General Assembly, scheduled as well for September.
At the conference, Manuel Augusto mentioned that Angola’s recent initiatives to open up to the rest of the world and seek investors abroad does not have to be clearly seen as a consequence of a negative state of affairs between Portuguese and Angolan governments. Instead, he pointed out Angola’s goal of becoming a cosmopolitan country as the reasoning for strengthening partnerships with other countries and regions.
The Angolan President currently prioritizes rebuilding the country’s credibility at the international level and sees no reason to exacerbate the status of the relations between Portugal and Angola.
No more double taxation between Angola and Portugal
The Angolan government is currently drafting the convention that will eliminate the double taxation between Angola and Portugal as it has been considered absolutely essential for businesses in both countries to agree on more reciprocal procedures regulating their operations. Business owners on both sides are also lobbying for the coordination of an investment protection scheme.
The double taxation relief agreement was announced in Luanda by the Secretary of State for international cooperation and Angolan communities, Domingos Vieira Lopes, during the opening session of the Entrepreneurial Forum promoted by the Portuguese-Angolan Chamber of Commerce (CCIPA). Accordingly to Vieira Lopes, the agreement will be concluded by the time António Costa visits Luanda in September.
Vieira Lopes added that the reciprocal investment protection scheme is still being negotiated and advanced during his speech that this agreement would also be finalized before the Portuguese PM visits Luanda.