LUANDA, April 8 (Xinhua) — A Chinese-funded five-day course with an aim to enhance capacity building in the civil aviation sector concluded on Friday in Luanda, the capital of Angola.
A total of 26 civil aviation managers from five Portuguese-speaking African countries participated in the course and were presented with certificates upon completing the course.
The course was part of the Civil Aviation Master Planning (CAMP) program, organized by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and financed by a Chinese South-South cooperation fund. The CAMP will provide quality and competency-based training opportunities to 500 participants, with 20 sessions to be held globally from early 2022.
During the closing ceremony, Angola\’s Minister of Transport Ricardo de Abreu praised the initiative in a video, highlighting its capacity to respond to the \”critical needs\” of respective states regarding the development and management of civil aviation.
Fernando Coelho, the ICAO official responsible for the course in Luanda, told Xinhua that the program aims to train civil aviation authorities\’ personnel and promote the sector as a leveraging factor for socioeconomic development in relevant countries. \”For a week, we were training people who leave here with the necessary knowledge and skills so that each of them in their respective countries can promote the idea and develop these master plans for civil aviation.\”
He also expressed his satisfaction with the event\’s result, stating that it ran \”excellently\” in Angola, and praised the financing from the Chinese fund, calling it a \”good investment.\”
\”As a trainer in this course, my opinion and that of my other colleagues (is that) this course is a success, and the help given by the Chinese government is very welcome. I want to thank the Chinese fund for its contribution given on behalf of ICAO.\”
Since its creation in 2015, the South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund has collaborated with several international organizations, including the ICAO, and implemented more than 130 projects in more than 50 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
In June 2022, China upgraded the fund to the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund and announced the addition of 1 billion U.S. dollars on top of the 3 billion dollars already committed.