In Angola 2007/2008 - (Page 21) BUSINESS NETWORKING Finding Business Partners in Angola Finding a local business partner in Angola will help you develop a cooperative venture that can provide you with more rapid access to the market, reduce your learning curve, and ultimately increase your sales and profits. But how do you find a business partner in Angola? Here are a few simple steps you can take to not only find a partner, but to protect your interests: • Contact your Embassy in Angola as well as the Embassy of Angola in your country. Their commercial officers will help you identify partners as well as potential opportunities. • Check to see if there is an Angolan Chamber of Commerce in your country for help in all areas of setting up your Angolan venture. • Contact organizations like Agência Nacional para Investimento Privado (ANIP), the Angolan Industrial Institute (AIA), or the Centro de Apoio Empresarial (CAE) that are designed to help you establish your business in Angola. The delegations can give you experience in the country and introduce you to important networking contacts. • Talk to executives of corporations from your country who are currently doing business in Angola. • Consider stepping into the market gradually through import/export trade. Entering the market in this way may help you to develop experience with the local culture and business practices. • Contract a law firm that specializes in doing business in Angola to perform due diligence. As with any country, it is important to use caution when venturing into Angola's business sector. Take the time to contact the organizations identified above to ensure your venture is a success from the beginning. Business Development Center Creates Opportunity The Centro de Apoio Empresarial (CAE) is a Luanda-based business development center. The consulting company works to increase the capacity of small and medium-sized Angolan firms and help them win contracts in the competitive oil and gas industry, as well as other economic sectors. CAE offers advice to foreign companies seeking Angolan partners or distributors. With over 450 local businesses in its database, CAE has won approximately thirty oil industry contracts valued at over USD 3 million. CAE was created in 2005 as part of a Sonangol project to build local resources, promote small and medium enterprises, and to respond to the government's Angolanization initiative. BP, Chevron, Esso, and Total are co-sponsors of the initiative to build the capacity of Angolan businesses and to participate more actively in the oil and gas industry. CAE offers many services including, but not limited to: • training and individual consulting; • locating Angolan companies to meet the needs of multinationals; • ensuring Angolan firms are picked as key suppliers, thus stimulating job creation, skills transfer, and economic growth. Foreign companies can take advantage of CAE’s services to locate qualified local suppliers, distributors, and representative companies in Angola. The center conducts due diligence on Angolan companies and has already completed the process for over seventy of its clients. Through ongoing collection of company information regarding accounting, human resources, marketing, health, safety and security, quality, and administrative capacity, CAE provides timely and relevant information for customers. Although the focus of the center’s efforts is currently in the oil and gas industry, the consulting service is responding to the diversification of the Angolan economy and expects to grow along with the market. CAE can be contacted at info@caeangola.com, +244 (222) 924 213 711, or at www.caeangola.com. 21 http://www.caeangola.com
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