Luanda: Minister of Industry and Commerce Rui de Oliveira stated on Wednesday that the strategic location within Southern Africa's transport and trade corridors gives Moxico Leste province a pivotal role in building an economy that is more integrated, competitive, and future-oriented. Speaking at the opening of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce's sixth Consultative Council meeting-held in the municipality of Luau-the official noted that the choice of this province (established under the new political-administrative division) to host the event reaffirms the Executive's vision for national development. This vision is grounded in a logic of balanced, inclusive, and territorially integrated growth.
According to Angola Press News Agency, Rui de Oliveira emphasized that Angola's economic future depends on leveraging the productive potential of all provinces and effectively integrating these territories into national, regional, and international value chains. He highlighted that Luau's proximity to regional corridors and Southern African markets places Eastern Moxico in a strategic position to promote cross-border trade, facilitate the distribution of domestic output and the movement of goods and services, and establish Angola as a hub for regional economic integration.
He invited domestic and foreign businesspeople to visit the province and explore business opportunities in the agriculture, livestock, and fisheries sectors. Furthermore, he noted that the Consultative Council is taking place at a particularly important moment in the country's economic trajectory. It will serve as a forum to evaluate results, identify opportunities for improvement, share experiences, and devise solutions to accelerate the implementation of public policies regarding industry, commerce, logistics, regional integration, and investment promotion.
He emphasized that the Ministry aims for the event to yield recommendations that help transform production into added value, bring producers closer to markets, strengthen domestic industry, and modernize commerce-thereby promoting employment, income generation, and territorial development. The two-day sixth Consultative Council-held in the municipality of Luau, in the province of Moxico Leste, under the theme "Integrate, produce, and trade: pathways to sustainable growth"-brings together government officials, business leaders, experts, and institutional partners.
During the event, led by the sector's minister, Rui de Oliveira, discussions will focus on public policies to boost trade and strengthen the country's competitiveness, aiming to build a more productive, integrated, and sustainable Angola. Participants will also present solutions to revitalize the Lobito Corridor, a key axis for regional and international trade integration.
The council's agenda includes analyses of economic diversification, regional integration, and market access, as well as investment in small and medium-sized enterprises within the productive sector-focusing on integrated value chains-and the role of African regional integration as a driving force for industrial and commercial expansion. With a population of over 400,000 and a land area of approximately 223,023 square kilometers, Moxico Leste is one of three new Angolan provinces established in 2025 to bring social services closer to the population. The province comprises nine municipalities: Caianda, Cameia, Cazombo, Lago Dilolo, L³vua do Zambeze, Luacano, Luau, Macondo, and Nana Candundo.
