Luanda, Angola, 20 June – Businesspeople from Angola and Portugal will Friday in Porto analyze ways of boosting bilateral trade, at a meeting organized by Banco Bic and the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

According to a report in Angolan newspaper Jornal de Angola, Portugal and Angola have close economic ties, with Angola being the ninth biggest destination for Portuguese exports and Portugal being the main source of Angolan imports.

As well as this, Portugal is amongst the five main investors in Angola and there are currently over 120 Portuguese companies set up in the country, according to figures from Angola’s National Statistics Institute (INE).

Investment is mainly aimed at the real estate and financial sectors and in 2005 totaled 64.6 million euros.

Along with an increase in Portuguese exports to Angola over the last five years – with the balance of trade highly in Portugal’s favor – relations between the two countries are now heading towards a new phase: of encouraging investment.

Beer, wine and electrical equipment for telecommunications are the three main categories of products that Portugal exports to Angola. (macauhub)