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January
2006 VOL.15 NO.1
As
I look back to 2005, what really impresses me is that the
Chamber has demonstrated a considerable level of maturity and
that its reputation is well established both in the US and
Angola (and elsewhere, for that matter). In particular, I am
really pleased with the results of our efforts in Angola.
2005 started on a very positive note: the success of the first
ever fundraising event (the Gala Dinner in December 2004), which
allowed us to establish a permanent representative in Luanda for
the first time in March 2005. You all know how the work of
Liliana de Sousa and Paula Morais has resulted in increased
membership recruitment, superior provision of local services for
members in Angola, better event coordination, and enhanced
reputation in Luanda. The success of the second Gala Dinner in
December 2005 will allow us to continue this arrangement.
In May 2005, the chamber hosted the first Business Symposium.
Although we had never experimented with the format before, and
in spite of the emergency situation due to the Marburg fever
outbreak, the event was very successful.
In Washington, we continued to be a provider of services and
information to our members. The Angola Working Group series
continued successfully through the year with
six events. I would
like to thank the Chamber's Executive Director, Paul Hare, for
making the Angola Working Group the de facto forum of discussion
on US-Angola relations.
A major milestone was also reached in 2005: our overall
membership base – thanks also to a record number of Angolan
companies joining the chamber – has climbed
close to 100 members. This is a major accomplishment, and we are most
thankful to the chamber’s Deputy Director, Maria da Cruz: her
relentless recruitment effort is now a critical part of the
Chamber’s strategy.
Our gratitude goes also out to the members of the Board of
Directors, who have reviewed and strengthened the policies of
the Chamber in time of need and provided much needed support
throughout the year. A last note of thanks goes to member
companies that have sponsored our activities: to them the
Chamber owes not only the ability to carry out these activities,
but its very own existence.
As we begin a 2006 that we expect to be even more successful,
a long list of events is already in the making. Ambassador Hare
has elaborated on the upcoming activities in his column. As I
look at what the Chamber will accomplish in the next months, I
cannot help but think how it has come a long way from its almost
obscure beginnings in 1990 in Boston. At the time, people were
skeptical about the chances of setting up an organization to
promote trade and investment between two countries that could
not have been more distant politically and that did not even have
diplomatic ties.
Since then, we have all witnessed in Angola some of the most
dramatic changes that any country has ever gone through. And as
the country of Angola progressed and grew, so certainly did the
US Angola Chamber of Commerce!
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IN WASHINGTON, DC:
1100 CONNECTICUT AVE., N.W., SUITE 1000
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20036 USA
TEL: 202.223.0540 FAX: 202.223.0551
E-MAIL: contactus@us-angola.org
IN LUANDA, ANGOLA:
TEL: (244-2) 22 430-028
FAX: (244-2) 22 430-028
EMAIL: lilianadesousa@menshen.net |
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