Bilateral meeting with the Secretary of State for Economy of the Republic of Angola – His Excellency Ivan Emanuel Marques dos Santos

Rome – FAO Director-General QU Dongyu met with the Secretary of State for Economy of the Republic of Angola, His Excellency Ivan Emanuel Marques dos Santos, at FAO headquarters in Rome, at the sidelines of the World Food Forum 2023 (WFF2023).

The State Secretary was accompanied by His Excellency Joao da Cunha, Secretary of State for Agriculture and Livestock, His Excellency Ivan do Prado, Secretary of State for Industry and Trade and His Excellency Antonio Silva, Secretary of State for Fisheries and Marine Resources, who were participating at the World Food Forum 2023 presenting the Agriculture Investment Plan for cereals and livestock in Angola.

His Excellency Ivan Emanuel Marques dos Santos expressed his appreciation to FAO for the comprehensive technical assistance provided and congratulated the Director General for the excellent WFF2023.

The two-exchanged views on the opportunities of transforming the agrifood system in Angola. The State Secretary updated the Director-General on the developments made supporting three presidential flagship programmes of the new National Development Plan (NDP): expanded cereal production (PLANAGRAO), livestock production (PLANAPECUARIA), and the Blue Economy Vision (PLANAPESCA). He also reiterated that agriculture is a driver for economic diversification and growth.

The Director-General thanked and congratulated the State Secretary for his leadership and strong team participating at the WFF2023. He highlighted that through diversification and better production more can be attained. Specifically, the Director General shared with the State Secretary the importance of strong leadership to harness the new opportunities underlining the importance of digitalization and ecommerce as key components. He shared also with the State Secretary the importance of looking at the value chain in its entirety, noting that capacity development is essential for the transformation.

The Director-General emphasized that the Hand-in-Hand Investment Forum is a platform where countries take ownership of their investment plans and create the catalytic and transformative change required, emphasizing that through the geospatial platform and other FAO technical areas of expertise the Organization can further support Angola in transforming its agrifood system.