Angolan Minister of Foreign Affairs signs Host Country Agreement for the 10th Summit of OACPS Heads of State and Government to be held in Angola
Brussels, 21 October 2021/OACPS: H.E. M. Tete António, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Angola and President-in-Office of the Council of Ministers of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), on Thursday, 14 October 2021, signed the Host Country Agreement for the 10th Summit of OACPS Heads of State and Government, to take place in 2022 in the Republic of Angola, during a visit to the OACPS Secretariat in Brussels, Belgium. H.E. Mr Georges Rebelo Pinto Chikoti, Secretary-General of the OACPS signed the Agreement on behalf of the OACPS.
The signing of the Agreement took place following a Special Session of the OACPS Committee of Ambassadors (CoA) in honour of the Minister’s visit. The Republic of Angola currently represents the Southern African region during the rotational leadership of the CoA.
Minister António, in his address to the CoA, reiterated Angola’s, “Engagement to contribute as best we can to the implementation of the Action Plan adopted by the 9th Summit of Heads of State and Government, held in 2019 in the Republic of Kenya,” and further reinforced his country’s commitment to carry out the 113th Session of the Council of Minister and the 10th Summit of Heads of State and Government.
The President of the Council reinforced the OACPS’ importance as, “One of the main actors in defining the international political agenda, development and cooperation” and also recognised its role in the transformation of its Member States, “So that we all contribute to the search for solutions to the increasingly complex problems facing our countries and in general, the international community.”
Citing several of the existing challenges, not the least of which was the COVID-19 pandemic which has had an irreparable impact on economies globally and even more so on the Members of the OACPS, the Minister nonetheless, listed achievements such as the initialing of the new OACPS-EU Partnership Agreement, the internal restructuring of the OACPS, the start of the diversification process with partners.