On 19 February 2025, UNIDROIT received an official visit from Her Excellency Maria de Fátima Jardim, Ambassador of the Republic of Angola to Italy, accompanied by Secretary Heliodoro Abambres, who were welcomed by President Maria Chiara Malaguti and Principal Legal Officer and Treaties Depositary Marina Schneider.
This visit was an opportunity to strengthen ties with the Republic of Angola, which is already a Party to three UNIDROIT instruments: the 2001 Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment and the 2001 Protocol thereto on Matters specific to Aircraft Equipment, as well as the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects.
The discussions highlighted how UNIDROIT’s harmonised instruments meet the needs of the Republic of Angola. Instruments such as the Luxembourg Rail Protocol of 2007 and the MAC Protocol of 2019, along with others in the area of agriculture, will strengthen the necessary legal environment and enable Angola to gain better access to credit for the implementation of its development projects.
The participation of the Republic of Angola in the legislative and non-legislative work of UNIDROIT as a member state of the organisation was discussed, with the aim of enabling Angola to take an active role in the development of conventional or “soft law” instruments such as principles, model laws, and legal guides. The participation of Angolan lawyers in the International Programme for Law and Development (IPLD) in 2025 was also addressed.
Finally, the participants discussed the organisation of a conference in Luanda to promote UNIDROIT instruments, at the invitation of the Ministry of Trade and Commerce.
