Djuric: Serbia and Angola are bound by decades of friendship

Minister Djuric assessed that Serbia and Angola were bound by decades of friendship based on economic, people-to-people and political ties, which had matured and gained substance over the decades. 

The Serbian Foreign Minister thanked the Government of Angola for its principled and persistent support to the Republic of Serbia on all key topics of importance for our people and our country.

"When it comes to territorial integrity and sovereignty, that is, the preservation of Kosovo and Metohija as part of Serbia, Angola has remained our unwavering strategic ally in southern Africa”, Djuric said and added that Angola was firmly on the side of stability in our region by refraining from supporting the Resolution on Srebrenica.

Djuric pointed out that Serbia is proud to have been part of the country that supported the anti-colonial struggle of the people in Angola, underlining that Belgrade was the first capital in this part of the world to recognize Angola's independence. 

Regarding the promotion of cooperation between the two countries, Djuric said that Serbia was willing to strengthen economic ties, bearing in mind that Serbian companies from the food and construction industry, as well as from the energy sector, were successfully operating in Angola for decades. 

"We want to open the labour market in Serbia, as well as our market in a broader sense, to our friends from Angola. For this reason, today we agreed to renew the activity of the Joint Committee on Economic and Trade Cooperation after several decades, and I hope that we will have the opportunity to hold the first session this year", Djuric pointed out.

The Minister also underlined that Serbia hardly had better friends than the peoples of Africa in every sense - ideological, political and spiritual.
Minister Antonio pointed out that during his visit to Serbia, serious discussions were held with the aim of strengthening bilateral cooperation, especially underlining the Agreement on mutual recognition of academic degrees, which was signed today at the Government of the Republic of Serbia.

He emphasized that Angola aimed to transform its economy and implement industrialization, and that stronger ties between Serbian and Angolan companies were important for their economy.

"We would like to sign an Agreement on the encouragement and protection of investments, which will provide guarantees to companies and businesspeople that their investments are safe", Antonio pointed out adding that a double taxation avoidance Agreement was also discussed. 

"We are a country that suffered war for 25 years and that knows better than anyone the cost of a war and the benefits of peace. That is why we support Serbia in all the peaceful efforts it makes, because we know that this contributes to our peace and peace in the world", concluded the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Angola.