[ecr]

“We are preparing to sign about twenty cooperation agreements in the priority domains that we have identified together,” Attaf declared to the press after being received by the President of Angola, Joao Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço.

In this respect, Attaf said that a meeting of the Algerian-Angolan joint commission will be held soon and that a Business Council will be created to allow “interaction between Algerian and Angolan business communities.”

These steps aim to raise the level of economic cooperation to that of the “excellent” and “exemplary” relations between the two countries.

“Let us recognize that economic relations do not raise to both countries’ aspirations (...) This is why our two Ministries of Foreign Affairs are working tirelessly to correct this anomaly,” Attaf said.

As for economy, “I believe that the cooperation potential is enormous,” he added.

Attaf transmitted the congratulations of the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, for Angola’s key role in working towards a lasting peace between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda.

“I find myself in Luanda on the eve of an important event for the Great Lakes region and a significant moment in the stabilizing, pacifying, and securing efforts of President Joao Lourenço.

“We aspire to see reconciliation and peace between the DRC and Rwanda, and we are truly privileged and honoured to be the first to convey, on behalf of President Tebboune, our congratulations and encouragement to Angola, a sister country, for this great event. We wish it all possible success,” said Attaf.

Next year, “Angola will chair the African Union. President Tebboune has assured his brother, President Joao Lourenço, that he will stand by his side and that the Angolan presidency will be a success for Angola, Algeria, and the entire African continent,” he concluded. [/ecr]