Luanda — Angola spends USD 66 million annually to import chicken, said on Thursday the national director of Agriculture, José Carlos Bettencourt.

In the meantime, data disclosed in 2016 by the Agriculture Ministry reported that the country had spent an estimated USD 450 million on importing 360 tons of chicken during that period.

However, without disclosing the domestic chicken output, the official called for increased private investment in this sector so as to reduce the import of meat and chicken in the country.

Apart from the chicken production issue, the director of agriculture urged Angolan and Italian business people to invest in the pig breeding, during an Agribusiness Angola-Italy forum jointly run by the Agency for Private Investment and Exports Promotion (AIPEX) and Italian Trade Agency (ITA).

As stated by the official, pig breeding offers huge business opportunities, taking into account that it is an activity in expansion in Angola.

Several Angolan firms and seven Italian companies specialized to agricultural sector took part of the forum.