New EU-ACP agreement boosts relations among states

 Luanda - Angola's ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium, Mário Constantino, on Friday considered historical and inclusive the new agreement of the Organisation of African Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), which is intended to boost trade and diplomatic relations among states.

Angola takes up the rotating presidency of this organisation in December, whose secretary-general is the Angolan Ambassador Georges Rebelo Pinto Chikoti.

 

Mário Constantino was speaking to the press, as the president of the working group of the Committee of Ambassadors in preparation for the 10th Summit of Heads of State and of Government of the OACPS  to take place in  December 6 to 10, in Luanda.

 

The Committee of Ambassadors, which included the Assistant Secretary-General of the OACPS, met with Angolan MPs members of the Commission of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Angolan Communities Abroad.

 

The diplomat indicated that, for this summit, the existence of an information strategy is fundamental, deeming fruitful the meeting with MPs, "since the parliamentary activity is also one of the central elements of the OAPCS”, he stressed.

 

Historical Summit 

The ambassador considered the Luanda Summit historic since it marked the beginning of a new agreement between the states and a new partnership with the European Union (EU).

 

"Before we were a group, now we are a new international organisation and, during Angola's presidency, we will be able to implement this agreement and we aim for a new partnership with the European Union, with enormous advantages for the states", the Angolan diplomat disclosed.

 

Constantino added that the  new agreement gives another dimension to the organisation which is no longer a group but an international player with unavoidable challenges in international relations. 

 

The diplomat emphasised that the group of ambassadors has been working towards having a very representative and results-oriented summit, within the framework of Angola's three-year presidency.

 

The new agreement is a renewed partnership with the European Union, which already existed under the Lomé Convention.

 

"We are going to have a different partnership with the EU. For example, the European development funds will cease to exist and there will be new forms of programme financing and co-operation in the parliamentary framework it will also be different", he explained.

 

According to the diplomat, the new agreement has specific areas and one of them is sustainable development.

 

The deputy secretary-general of the OACPS, Norbert Richard Ibrahim, on his turn, said they interacted with Angolan MPs, in the context of the meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly scheduled for October, in Maputo, Mozambique.

 

The Maputo meeting will play a sensitising role for the success of the 10th Summit of Heads of State and of Government of the EACP.

 

Norbert Richard Ibrahim is in Angola to participate in the Technical Preparatory Meeting of the Secretariat and the Working Group for the summit. 

 

The Organisation of African Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) is an association of 79 countries, formed to co-ordinate activities of the 1975 Lomé Convention (Togo).

 

All member states except Cuba are signatories to the Cotonou agreement, which replaced the Lomé conventions.