Doing Business In (Insert Country Name Here)

Return to table of contentsChapter 8: Business Travel• Business Customs• Travel Advisory• Visa Requirements• Telecommunications• Transportation• Language• Health• Local Time, Business Hours and Holidays• Temporary Entry of Materials and Personal BelongingsBusiness CustomsReturn to topPortuguese is the official language of Angola. Few Angolans speak English at a levelappropriate for business transactions; competent interpreters are often necessary and itcan be difficult to find interpreters with technical English language capacity. Businesscards are helpful and developing personal face-to-face relationships with local contactsis essential.Credit card use is limited to the major hotels in Luanda. In general, Angola is a casheconomy and business travelers should be prepared to use US Dollars to pay for goodsand services. In addition, even though major hotels can procure hired cars, drivers andtranslators for business customers, the hotels customarily cannot include the charges forsuch services in the hotel bill and customers will need other financial arrangements tocover these charges.Business appointments often are not confirmed until hours before the appointment timewhich can make advance planning challenging. Companies should be prepared to beflexible. Business travelers who intend to make more than one trip to Angola are highlyencouraged to obtain a mobile telephone for use while in Angola.Hotel and airplane reservations can be difficult to obtain because of high demand andrelatively low supply. In addition, acquiring an Angolan visa can be a lengthy process.Business travelers are encouraged to begin arrangements well in advance of plannedtravel dates.Travel AdvisoryReturn to topPlease consult the US Department of State’s latest Consular Information Sheet and theWorldwide Caution Public Announcement, available via the Internet athttp://travel.state.gov.2/13/2007