Oman, Angola Sign Agreements and MoUs to Strengthen Bilateral Cooperation
Luanda, The Gulf Observer: His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik of the Sultanate of Oman and President João Manuel Lourenço of the Republic of Angola witnessed the exchange of a series of agreements and memoranda of understanding between the two countries at the Presidential Palace in Luanda.
The agreements were signed during Sultan Haitham’s state visit to Angola and cover a range of political, economic, investment and development sectors.
The two countries signed five agreements, eight memoranda of understanding and an executive programme aimed at expanding bilateral cooperation.
The agreements include mutual visa exemption for holders of diplomatic, special and service passports, technical cooperation between the two governments, and arrangements to eliminate double taxation on income while preventing tax evasion and avoidance.
They also cover air transport, as well as heads of terms for cooperation in logistics services and the defence industries sector in Angola.
The memoranda of understanding address political consultations and training, investment promotion, agriculture and livestock, and cooperation between the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Angola Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The two sides also signed an MoU on potential cooperation in the energy sector, covering upstream, midstream and downstream activities in Angola.
Another memorandum concerns renewable energy cooperation for the development of a 500-megawatt project equipped with a battery energy storage system (BESS) under the independent power producer (IPP) model.
A non-binding memorandum was also signed on potential cooperation in oilfield services and technologies.
In addition, Oman and Angola signed an executive programme for technical cooperation and a contract for the rehabilitation, upgrading and expansion of the water distribution network in Luanda Province.
The agreements and related instruments were signed on behalf of Oman by Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, Foreign Minister; Anwar bin Hilal Al Jabri, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion; Abdullah bin Nasser Al Rahbi, Non-Resident Ambassador of Oman to Angola; Ashraf bin Hamad Al Maamari, Chief Executive Officer of OQ; Qais bin Saud Al Zakwani, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Maabar Investment Company; and Khalid bin Sultan Al Junaibi, Chief Executive Officer of Desert Sand Oil and Gas Company.
On the Angolan side, the documents were signed by Téte António, Minister of External Relations; Isaac Francisco Maria dos Anjos, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry; João Baptista Borges, Minister of Energy and Water; Vicente Francisco Soares, President of the Angola Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Luís Manuel da Fonseca, Chairman of the Board of Directors of SIMPORTEX; Solange Nadine Galamba Joyce, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Public Water Company (EPAL); Feliciano António Catiolo, Executive Director of EPAL; and Sebastião Gaspar Martins, Chief Executive Officer of Sonangol.
The agreements mark a broadening of Oman-Angola cooperation across diplomacy, trade, investment, energy, agriculture, infrastructure, water, logistics and other strategic sectors.
