The government of Angola plans to increase import duty on meat to encourage increased domestic production, and has estimated that foreign currency savings will reach US$200 million per year, state newspaper Jornal de Angola reported.

The paper added that Angola spends about US$1 billion on meat imports and quotes the president of the Industrial Association of Angola (AIA), José Severino, as saying that meat importers can use the money they spend on imports to encourage domestic production.

However, Angola has reduced the value of imports in the first quarter by 34.7%, a period when exports fell by just 1.3%, according to statements from the Minister of Trade, while addressing the opening ceremony of the second edition of “Internationalisation is Growth Forum.”

Fiel Constantino, citing figures from the National Statistics Institute, said that the main markets for the export of Angolan products were China (49%), India (7.5%), United States of America (5.7%), Portugal (4.4%) and South Africa (4.3%).

With regard to imports, China with 15.4%, was the main supplier, followed by Portugal with 14.4%, the United States with 9.4%, Brazil with 5% and South Africa and Singapore with 4.2% each.

The forum was organised by the Community of Exporting and Internationalised Companies of Angola, which has 33 member companies and whose agenda is focused on fostering capitalisation and innovation processes in Angolan companies. (macauhub)