Luanda, Angola, 26 July - Brazilian export and investment promotion agency, APEX-Brasil, this year plans to open a business centre in Luanda, the director for management and planning of the institution, Ricardo Schaefaer, said Sunday in the Angolan capital.

Speaking to Angolan news agency Angop, Schaefaer said that the centre would be a point of support both for Brazilian companies and Angolan firms interested in investing and setting up in one of the two countries.

Opening the centre, he said, would bring benefits to Angolan investors who would be able to access commercial and investment information, as well as receive advice about Brazil.

Schaefaer said that the business centre would also assist and provide consulting services to Brazilian companies that planned to set themselves up in Angola.

He also noted that the space to set up the centre had already been leased and that the legal requirements of the National Agency for Private Investment (ANIP) had been concluded, and thus the centre would likely start operating this year.

According to the Angolahub news agency between 2000 and 2008, Angola went from being the 52nd biggest destination of Brazilian exports to becoming the 23rd most important market, with Brazil as Angola’s fourth-biggest supplier.

Between 2005 and 2009, trade between the two countries rose from US$520 million to US$1,5 billion, and by the end of this year is expected to reach US$2 billion. (macauhub)