If so, he said, it is most likely to take place in the first half of the year, given that Portugal is to have a general election in the autumn while Angola is planning ceremonies to mark the 40th anniversary of independence on 11 November. Portugal could well take an active part in the events to mark independence, he added.


Barrica was talking in a break from meetings in Luanda of the country's ambassadors abroad.


"I believe that the Portuguese authorities will also hail 40 years of Angola's independence, because the people responsible for colonisation are not the Portuguese of today," he said.


In January, the same diplomat had said that a visit to Luanda by Portugal's foreign minister, Rui Machete, had represented a "step" to resuming plans for a bilateral summit.


The summit was originally pencilled in for February last year, but was cancelled in late 2013 after Angola's president, José Eduardo dos Santos, said relations were poor and that plans for a strategic partnership would be shelved.


That followed moves by Portuguese prosecutors to investigate corruption involving top Angolan officials. No charges have been lodged in the meantime.