Angolan Diplomatic Representations Have Trade Attachés Again

27 November 2019

Some Angolan diplomatic representations will once again have trade attachés, which had been suspended since August for financial reasons, Trade Minister Joffre Van-Dúnem said on Tuesday in Luanda as he addressed members of parliament.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, based on the proposal of the Ministry of Trade, closed the trade offices and terminated the duties of 10 Angolan trade representatives and attachés abroad, a decision made as part of the process of restructuring, reorganisation, and re-aligning Angola’s diplomatic and consular network.

The Minister of Trade told MPs, as he considered the draft State Budget for 2020, that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had already agreed to reinstate some of the trade attachés.

The new trade attachés, he said, will work in Angola’s diplomatic offices with the World Trade Organization (Switzerland), the Southern African Development Community (South Africa), the African Continental Free Trade Area (Accra) and Belgium, the United States of America and China.

Van-Dúnem also said that the trade offices mentioned will have a total of 12 employees, “one or two per attaché,” a significant reduction from the previous 60, according to the Angop news agency. (Macauhub)