The Portuguese Prime Minister today met with his Sao Tome counterpart, Patrice Trovoada, in Sao Tome, where he made a stopover before heading to the Central African Republic (CAR), a meeting centered on bilateral cooperation.
At the end of the working breakfast with Patrice Trovoava, which lasted about an hour and in which there were no press statements, the support of Portugal last December amounting to 15 million euros was highlighted.
“We continue to work to identify the needs and opportunities offered to Sao Tome and Principe,” the Portuguese Prime Minister wrote in his account on the social network Twitter.
Today I met Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada in São Tomé for a working breakfast. Following the support given last December, we continue to work to identify the needs and opportunities offered by Sao Tome and Principe. pic.twitter.com/2yEBeXjiAc
Antonio Costa (@antoniocostapm) February 3, 2023
Last December, the Portuguese government passed a resolution authorizing the provision of an exceptional amount of EUR 15 million for direct aid to the general budget of the State of Sao Tome and Principe. Financial support to contribute to development in the education, health and food security sectors, and to strengthen democracy and the rule of law.
This grant was the result of a visit to Portugal by Sao Tome and Principe Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada on Dec. 8, when he warned that the archipelago was going through a “critical moment” economically.
In turn, António Costa paid an official visit to São Tomé on December 19, 2021, where he highlighted the “strong ties of cooperation between the two countries and which, in his view, were consolidated with the signing of the Strategic Cooperation Plan program between 2021 and 2025”.
The Strategic Cooperation Program (PEC) has an estimated value of €60 million until 2025 and prioritizes the areas of health, education and culture, social protection, employment and vocational training, justice, security and defence, agriculture, fisheries, energy and environment , public finances, economy and infrastructure.
During his visit to São Tomé and Príncipe in December 2021, António Costa highlighted the Saúde para Todos collaboration project, launched in 1988 and considered one of the most important in Portuguese collaboration. It includes telemedicine since 2011 and has expanded into specialty areas such as imaging, cardiology, dermatology and ophthalmology, ENT and gastroenterology, totaling 26 specialties.
Already on September 27, the Portuguese Prime Minister, António Costa, praised the people of São Tomé for the “political maturity” shown in the last elections, but also the ADI (Independent Democratic Action) and its president for the election victory.
“I congratulate the Sao Tome people for their display of political maturity and democratic vitality. I also congratulate all parties and candidates, especially ADI and its president, Patrice Trovoada, on the election victory,” António Costa wrote on his social network account Twitter .
On his last visit to this country, the leader of the Portuguese government had dinner with members of the crew of the patrol vessel Zaire and of the hydrographic vessel Dom Carlos, in Espaço Cacau, in São Tomé.
António Costa then considered that the deployed national forces “fulfill a very important mission for the country, as they help Portugal to raise itself internationally, to strengthen its position within the scope of the United Nations, the European Union, NATO , but also at the level of bilateral cooperation”.
“These missions in São Tomé and Príncipe are a good proof of that, as they contribute to collective security, namely in the Gulf of Guinea – a critical transit point in the Atlantic Ocean and for the ongoing scientific mission in the framework of the Mar Aberto program,” he said. .
Since late last year, Sao Tome and Principe and Portugal have been negotiating to replace the more than 50-year-old Zaire patrol vessel, which has helped deter crime in the waters of the archipelago in the Gulf of Guinea.
The vessel from the Portuguese Republic (NRP) Zaire has been operating in Sao Tome waters since January 2018, with a mixed crew of Portuguese and Sao Tome troops, under a bilateral cooperation agreement.
Source: DN
