The head of the Angolan executive, who inaugurated the 5th edition of Expo-Industry, in Luanda, stressed that since 2018, the growth rate of real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the manufacturing industry recorded an accumulated 7.7%.
He highlighted 2022 with a growth in the order of 6%, exceeding the projection provided in the General State Budget.
João Lourenço pointed out the impact of the more than 200 industrial projects, emphasizing the food sector, for creating jobs and self-sufficiency in essential consumer goods.
He stressed that it is necessary to continue increasing national production to reduce prices, reduce imports and increase exports.
He also noted “the effort that the country has been making in recent years” in improving infrastructure, highlighting the increase in electricity produced from hydroelectric and photovoltaic production, the expansion of power transmission lines, and the investments planned for the water sector.
The textile sector, food production, the extraction and transformation of granite and ornamental rocks, salt refining, and the metal-mechanic sector are some examples he gave in terms of the development of the national productive value chains, from the raw material to the transformed product.
João Lourenço also spoke about the start-up of three textile factories to boost the clothing and fashion industries, the growth of the agro-industry, and the need to develop other sectors such as milling, tanneries, shipyards, fishing, and health, among others.
“We need to attract multinational pharmaceutical industries to establish factories in Angola to produce the medicines and vaccines we consume and export the surplus,” he said.
He also appealed to private investors who want to invest in the naval industry with shipyards to build and repair vessels for the oil, fishing, and merchant industry, given the prospect of the resumption of iron ore exploration and its transformation into steel.
The 5th Expo-Industry occurs until Saturday in the Luanda-Bengo Special Economic Zone and has more than 230 exhibitors.
With information from Lusa