Angolans and São Toméans can travel to both countries without needing a visa, under an agreement signed between Luanda and São Tomé, announced the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Angola.
Angolans and São Toméans will be able to travel to both countries without needing a visa, under an agreement signed this Monday between Luanda and São Tomé, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Angola announced.
The Agreement on Exemption from Visa in Diplomatic, Service and Ordinary Passports was initialed in Luanda, by the Angolan Foreign Minister, Téte António, and by the head of Sao Tome diplomacy, Edite Tem Jua, who arrived in Luanda on Sunday, carrying a message from the head of state of São Tomé and Príncipe, Evaristo Carvalho, to his Angolan counterpart, João Lourenço.
In his speech, Téte António considered that the two countries wrote yet another “page in gold letters of the history of existing ties”, including those of consanguinity that unite the two peoples.
The head of Angolan diplomacy stressed that the friendship and cooperation relations between the two countries are based on political, historical, cultural, and geographical factors, formalized in 1978 through the General Friendship and Cooperation Agreement and the Bilateral Joint Commission, created in 1980.
According to Téte António, these legal instruments allowed the signing of at least 26 sectoral agreements, the effective execution of which, however, falls short of the initial expectations.
Thus, I am convinced that this visit of your excellence can contribute to the revival of cooperation between Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe and will introduce a new dynamic for the development of areas of mutual interest, already identified in the Verbal Process, signed in São Tomé, in May 2019, which testifies to the willingness of our two countries to reinforce the broad lines of bilateral cooperation, which correspond to the new cooperation strategy ”.
Speaking to the press, the head of Angolan diplomacy pointed out the areas of tourism, transport, and the sea, including the exploration of hydrocarbons that the two countries do offshore.
I think we have a lot of potential between our two peoples, just have that will, the rest will come ”.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation, and Communities of São Tomé and Príncipe will, on Tuesday, be received in audience by the Angolan President, João Lourenço, foreseeing the program also working and courtesy meetings with different entities from the political, economic sector and social of Angola.
In turn, Edite Ten Jua considered the agreement “historic”, which he considered coming to materialize what is already a reality between the brother peoples of São Tomé and Angola.
We all have a friend, a family member, both in Angola and in São Tomé, this agreement strengthens family relationships, mobility at the business level and promotes regional tourism ”.
According to the minister, the agreement has several aspects, but above all the possibility of moving communities between the two countries, which is “without a doubt an added value”.
The Sao Tome official stressed that the two countries have extensive cooperation, stressing that “Angola has always been, is and will be a preferential partner for São Tomé and Príncipe”.
“What is required of us today is a more modernized, sharper view of the various sectors of cooperation and there are several. Naturally, some will be more privileged than others, but we have a general picture of cooperation from which several other agreements arise, ”said Edite Ten Jua, admitting that some could be more advanced, but were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Edite Ten Jua stressed that São Tomé is a preferred destination for Angolans, guaranteeing that this agreement will “safely” allow Angolans to go more often to the archipelago and “spend much more time” in that country.
