“努力提高抵御外部冲击的能力”——专访安哥拉财政部长薇拉·达夫斯(Vera Daves)

“我们有一项重大的改革计划，希望能在农业、渔业、制造业、矿业、纺织业和旅游业等领域推动安哥拉的经济增长。”2019年12月4日，来华访问的安哥拉新任财长薇拉·达夫斯（Vera Daves）女士在接受《中国投资》记者采访时表示，“我们在不断努力，提高安哥拉经济对外部冲击的抵御能力。我们欢迎中国民营企业在安哥拉投资，从而进一步开发我们在公路、铁路和能源设施方面的巨大潜力，扩大两国合作领域，使双方互利互惠。”

改革以应对全球经济影响

《中国投资》：近日，全球主要经济体财长和央行行长就世界经济面临的衰退风险发出严重警告。您如何看待目前全球经济走势？对非洲经济发展将产生哪些影响？

薇拉·达夫斯（Vera Daves）：针对这个问题我们有两方面的担忧。

我们一直关注世界经济的增长趋势。一些领导人想要退出多边贸易市场，高筑保护主义壁垒，并增加非洲国家的债务水平。我们也将继续密切关注全球局势。大多数非洲国家的经济都极易受到世界经济走势的影响，对安哥拉来说更是如此，因为我们的主要收入来源只有原油这个单一的产品，容易受到外部市场的冲击。

我认为最坏的情况不会发生，多边合作和自由贸易将占上风。当然，局势可能不会按照我们的预期发展，所以我们也正在做各项应对的准备，在国内进行一系列经济改革，减少安哥拉经济对单一产品的依赖。

我们有一项重大的改革计划，希望能在农业、渔业、制造业、矿业、纺织业和旅游业等领域推动安哥拉的经济增长。我们在不断努力，提高安哥拉经济对外部冲击的抵御能力。

《中国投资》：安哥拉《国家总预算2019》预测今年的增长率为2.8%，财政部最近发布的《中期债务战略（2019-2021）》，当局已把增长率下调至0.4%。发生了什么？安哥拉经济面临哪些挑战？

薇拉·达夫斯（Vera Daves）：这与我之前的回答有关。安哥拉经济一直都依赖于原油这一单一产品。这意味着石油行业的任何变化，包括价格和产量，都会极大影响安哥拉的经济。
近年来市场动荡，安哥拉受到了原油价格的冲击，导致财政收入不足，无法落实发展计划。更糟糕的是，近年来原油产量下降也给我们带来了负面影响。
石油部门需要大量投资才能维持或提高产量，但是近年来投资停滞，导致产量低于预期。

《中国投资》：据了解，您是安哥拉第一位女财长。您上任后面临哪些挑战？

薇拉·达夫斯（Vera Daves）：是的，我是第一位出任安哥拉财政部长的女性。我每次出行都会受到女性的欢迎，让我备受鼓舞。她们觉得有人代表自己的声音，这是希望的象征，我对此十分欣慰。但这也意味着重大的责任。我不能辜负她们，也不能辜负总统阁下，是他将这个重任托付给我，让我管理安哥拉的公共财政。

我深知自己的职责，没有一日忘记。我将竭尽所能，公正严明，带着我对这个国家的崇高敬意，履行好自己的职责。

最大的一个挑战是改善国家公共财政。安哥拉的公共财政和经济状况正面临着重重挑战。

这是一个充满挑战的时刻，直接影响人民的生活，让我们十分不安。只有推行经济改革，调整公共财政管理，实施汇率政策，优化营商环境的成果实实在在反映在了人民生活的方方面面，我们才能感到安心。

这个挑战我们必须克服。我们将坚持不懈地实现目标，即看到安哥拉人民享有应有的尊严。我们将尽一切努力尽快实现这一目标。这是我的承诺，也是我接受财政部长一职的初衷。

⬆在西飞民机客户服务中心维修实习车间内，中方教员指导安哥拉学员检修飞机发动机(新华社 邵瑞摄)

扩大两国合作  鼓励私营企业投资

《中国投资》：为应对经济发展困难，安哥拉发布哪些国家计划？要实现哪些目标？为实现发展目标，安哥拉对与中国的合作有哪些希望？

薇拉·达夫斯（Vera Daves）：安哥拉与中国的关系非常友好而务实。安哥拉2002年结束内战，实现和平，之后中国率先为安哥战后拉经济重建提供了金融和物资支持。中国的金融机构和建筑公司为重建我们国家提供了长期的帮助。

当时，整个国家支离破碎，交通不便。正是因为中国政府的支持，我们才得以重建国家，加速民族和解进程。中国的帮助我们永远不会忘。

因此，中国政府及金融机构就成为了我们最大的债权人。我们约有50％的外债来自中国的金融机构，表明了中国对我国公共财政的重要性，以及我们对债权人履行承诺的决心。

在继续履行这些承诺的同时，我们希望将合作从政府间扩展到私营部门。

当然，我们将一如既往地履行我们的承诺，回报中国政府给予我们的援助。在兑现承诺的同时，我们希望扩大两国合作，将私营部门纳入其中。

我们欢迎中国民营企业在安哥拉投资，抓住安哥拉的商机，在中国政府援建安哥拉基础设施的基础上加大投资力度希望中国民营企业进一步开发我们在公路、铁路和能源设施方面的巨大潜力，扩大两国合作领域，使双方互利互惠。

《中国投资》：安哥拉与中国在金融领域合作现状如何。有哪些合作机会？面临哪些挑战？在财政金融合作模式方面，安哥拉有哪些期待？

薇拉·达夫斯（Vera Daves）：我们正在审查各个部门的监管框架，包括交通部门，石油部门和采矿部门。积极修订土地法和安哥拉税制相关的法律框架。同时修订了私人投资法，但仍待进一步完善。我们正在推动相关立法来吸引外国直接投资。

为此，我们最近发布了一份清单，列出了从现在到2022年要私有化的195家国有企业，来刺激经济活动。我们会通过公开招标、首次公开募股（IPO）或在股票交易所拍卖来完成私有化

当然，引资政策不光是调整监管和法律框架。我们还从内部调整政府机构，提高效率。希望通过人员培训，简化流程，优化系统，使在安哥拉从开办到运营企业的过程更加便捷。

我们也在改善安哥拉的宏观经济环境。只有宏观经济稳定，投资者才能放心投资。正因如此，我们一直遵循着保持财政盈余的原则，以偿还现有债务并逐步降低公共债务的水平。同时，调整货币政策，以保持物价稳定，避免高通货膨胀率。我们也在制定汇率政策，使汇率更灵活，使其更有利于刺激国内经济。我们还根据修订的私人投资法进行税制改革。此外，我们也在简化资本账户的开设，加速资金的流入和流出，让那些在安哥拉投资并希望将红利转账回国的人更安心。
所以政府多管齐下，营造利于投资的环境，吸引投资者为安哥拉的经济增长做出贡献。

⬆安哥拉国家银行(图片提供：柳志 中铁二十局安哥拉公司）

我们需要借鉴中国经验

《中国投资》：未来，两国在财政金融合作方面前景如何？将有哪些创新模式？

薇拉·达夫斯（Vera Daves）：我们将继续与中国合作。中国金融机构建议我们在申请新贷款时要谨慎，要始终考虑我们目前的债务水平。希望扩大两国的合作范围，能够与民营企业家展开在金融以外其它领域的合作。

安哥拉在各个领域发展潜力巨大，而中国有宝贵的发展经验，因为中国在80年代实施了与安哥拉相似的经济改革。所以，中国可以在各方面给我们提供参考，哪里运行正常，哪里出了问题，以及在实施政策之前应该有哪些预期，纠正哪些内容。

中国在技术领域一直走在前列，在第四次工业革命中发挥着非常重要的作用，我们可以从中国那里学习宝贵的知识和技术，促进安哥拉经济的发展。

英文版

Endeavor to Enhance Resistance to External Impact

——Interview with Vera Daves, Angola’s Minister of Finance

By Zhang Mei

“We have a strong, ambitious reformist agenda, where the goal is to see sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, manufacturing, mines, textile industry, tourism and so many others contributing to the growth of the Angolan economy. ”On December 4, Ms. Vera Esperança Daves, the new Finance Minister of Angola who visited China, told a reporter from China Investment, “We are doing what has to be done to increase the resilience of the Angolan economy to external shocks. We are inviting the Chinese private sector to invest in Angola, There is a lot of potential in terms of road, rail and energy production infrastructure, and now we want the Chinese private sector to exploit this potential, and thus expand the scope of cooperation with mutually beneficial benefits for our two countries.”

China Investment: Recently, finance ministers and central bank governors of major global economies have issued serious warnings about the risk of a recession facing the world economy. What do you think of the current global economic trends? What impact will it have on Africa's economic development?

Vera Daves:This is a topic that causes us some apprehension in two aspects:

We have been following the trends of world economic growth, in which some world leaders are considering closing up their markets from multilateral trade by setting up the foundations for protectionism, and the increasing level of indebtedness of the African countries economies.

We, of course, will continue monitoring the situation closely because most of African countries are exposed to the trends of the world economic growth, in our case, Angola, even more so because our main source of income comes from just one product, which makes us very vulnerable to the shocks of the external market.

We are expecting that the worst will not happen and the multilateral cooperation and free trade will prevail. 

But, we are also preparing ourselves internally in case things don't go the way we would like them to go; and we are doing so through a set of economic reforms meant to reduce the dependence of the Angolan economy in one product only.

We have a strong, ambitious reformist agenda, where the goal is to see sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, manufacturing, mines, textile industry, tourism and so many others contributing to the growth of the Angolan economy. We are doing what has to be done to increase the resilience of the Angolan economy to external shocks.

China Investment:Angola's "National Budget 2019" predicts a growth rate of 2.8% this year. The "Medium-term Debt Strategy (2019-2021)" recently released by the Ministry of Finance reduced the growth rate to 0.4%. What happened? What challenges does the Angolan economy?

Vera Daves:This is related to my previous answer, which is that, until now, the Angolan economy is dependent on a single product, which is crude oil, meaning that any change in the oil sector, either via price or by way of production has a strong impact on the performance of the Angolan economy.

Thus, in recent years we have been experiencing price impacts because the market has been very volatile, with negative consequences on our ability to earn enough revenue to implement our development agenda. Unfortunately, we have also been negatively affected by the fall in production of crude oil in the recent years. 

The oil sector requires heavy investments in order to maintain or increase the production levels; and these investments have not been made in recent years, and as a result the production performance has not been as good as we would like it to be.

China Investment: Are you the first woman serving as minister of finances in Angola? How do you feel and what are the challenges?   

Vera Daves:Yes, it’s true. I am the first woman to be minister of finances in Angola.

It is encouraging that every time I go out I am greeted by women who feel represented and I am thankful for this sign of hope. But it is also a big responsibility. I cannot defraud them, neither them nor His Excellency the President of the Republic who has entrusted to me this enormous responsibility which is to manage the public finances of an important country like Angola.

So I am aware of this responsibility; I sleep and wake up thinking about it; and I will do everything to serve in this post with dignity, integrity and respect for the highest values of the nation.

One of the top challenges is to improve the national public finances. Angola is facing challenging times from the point of view of public finances, from the point of view of economic conditions.

This is a challenging moment that has had a direct impact on the lives of our people, and this is a fact that makes us uncomfortable and we will not rest until we feel that all the efforts we have made in terms of economic reforms and measures to reorganize management of public finances, the conduct of monetary exchange policy and the improvement of the business environment are all reflected in people's living conditions.

This is a challenge that we have to overcome. We will endeavor and persevere until our goal comes to fruition. That is to see Angolans having the dignified life they deserve, and we will do everything to make it a reality as soon as possible. That is my commitment, which is why I accepted the post of finance minister.

China Investment:In order to cope with economic development difficulties, what national plans have been issued by Angola? What are trying to achieve? What are Angola's hopes for cooperation with China in order to achieve the development goals?

Vera Daves:The relationship between Angola and China is very friendly and very pragmatic. China has taken the lead in providing financial and material support to the post-war process of rebuilding the Angolan economy after we achieved peace in 2002. From that time, Chinese financial institutions and construction companies have helped us rebuild the country.

The country was all broken, the people separated by the difficulty of moving from one place to another and thanks to the support that we received from the Chinese authorities we were able to rebuild the country and make the process of national reconciliation possible and faster. This is a gratitude that we will always express.

In this regard, the Chinese government and its financial institutions have become our biggest creditor. About 50% of our foreign debt is concentrated on Chinese financial institutions and this highlights the weight it has on our public finances and on the commitments we have to honor with our creditors.

As we continue to honor these commitments, we hope to expand the state to state cooperation to the private sector.

Of course, we will always continue our commitments, honoring this assistance we received from the Chinese authorities, and as we honor those commitments we want to move to another step in cooperation between the two countries, which is the inclusion of the private sector. 

We are inviting the Chinese private sector to invest in Angola, to take advantage of the opportunities that exist in Angola and to optimize this effort and the investment that has already been made with the support of China in building a set of infrastructures.

There is a lot of potential in terms of road, rail and energy production infrastructure, and now we want the Chinese private sector to exploit this potential, and thus expand the scope of cooperation with mutually beneficial benefits for our two countries.

China Investment:What is the current status of cooperation between Angola and China in the financial field? What cooperation opportunities are there? What challenges are facing? What are the expectations of Angola in terms of the financial cooperation model?

Vera Daves:We are reviewing the regulatory framework of various sectors which include the transport sector, oil sector and mining sector. We are also in the process of revising the land law and the legal framework associated with the Angolan tax system. We have already revised the private investment law but it is still open to further improvement. As you can see, we are undertaking a number of legislative initiatives to attract foreign direct investment.

In line with this vision, we recently have released a list of 195 public companies to be privatized from now up to 2022 in order to help us boost the economic activity. The privatization can be executed through public tender or initial public offer (IPO) or auction at the Stock Exchange.

But our policies to attract more investors are not only limited in changing regulatory and legal framework. We are also working within the public institutions to make them more efficient. We are betting on giving skills to people, simplifying the procedures and modernizing the system in order to make the whole process of opening and operating business in Angola easier.

We are also working to optimize macroeconomic conditions. We understand that investors would feel more comfortable investing if there is macroeconomic stability in our country; That is why we are, on the public finance side, maintaining the discipline of fiscal surpluses so that we can service the existing debt and progressively reduce the level of public debt.

We are working on monetary policy in order to have price stability and ensure that we do not have high inflation rates, and we are working on exchange rate policy to have a more flexible exchange rate and thus more compatible with encouraging national production. We are also implementing tax reforms, in line with the revision of the private investment law.

Additionally, we also are working on the process of easing the capital account so that the inflows and outflows of financial resources happen more expeditiously and thus give peace of mind to those who invest in Angola and want to repatriate their dividends.

So there are several fronts to ensuring the right environment for investment to take place and to welcome investors to contribute to the economic growth of Angola.

China Investment:In the future, what are the prospects of the two countries in terms of financial cooperation? What innovation models will there be?

Vera Daves:We will continue working and cooperating with China. The Chinese financial institutions are advising us to be cautious when asking for new loans, taking always to account our current level of indebtedness.

We also want to broaden the scope of cooperation between the two countries to private entrepreneurs and to areas other than financing and financial sources.

There is tremendous potential in various sectors of activity in Angola and there is valuable knowledge and experience on Chinese side taking to consideration that in the 1980’s China itself implemented economic reforms similar to those happening in Angola.

So, China has a lot to teach us about what went well, what went wrong, what we should anticipate and correct before we implement.

China is firmly taking the lead in the technology sector and plays a very important role in the fourth industrial revolution and we can rely on China to provide us with valuable know-how and technological means to advance our economy.

⬆AEROPORTO DO LUAU (Photo by China Railway 20 Bureau Group Corporation Angola International Co.Ltd)