Cape Verde and the Kingdom of Spain advocate strengthening bilateral relations

The position of strengthening bilateral relations was defended this morning in Madrid during a working meeting between Cape Verde's Minister for the Sea, Jorge Santos, and the Spanish Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

The meeting began with an important working session, in which the Minister for the Sea was accompanied by various officials from his Ministry and the areas under its supervision, and by the Cape Verdean Ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain, Dr Eduardo Jorge Silva, while the Spanish Minister was accompanied by the Secretary General for Fisheries.

In 2007, the two countries signed a fisheries agreement, and during the meeting on Monday 31st, the parties expressed their desire to promote progress on that agreement.

At the headquarters of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the two delegations emphasised the need to further strengthen relations between the two countries. The Minister of the Sea emphasised that although Cape Verde and Spain already have a good partnership, it is important to establish a "memorandum of understanding" to strengthen ties, focusing on areas such as valuing human capital, deepening scientific research - especially in the areas of fishing and aquaculture - and developing marketing and logistics in Cape Verde, among others.

In the diving sector, Minister Jorge Santos emphasised the importance of a closer partnership with Spain, stressing that expanding relations with the country and its institutions is in Cape Verde's strategic interest.

The Spanish Minister, for his part, emphasised the importance of trust and predictability in strengthening bilateral relations, citing collaborations in the tourism, maritime and fisheries sectors as positive examples.

As part of this trip, the Minister and his delegation also had the opportunity to visit the Fisheries Monitoring Centre, where they got a closer look at the equipment and facilities used by Spain to monitor and repair fishing vessels.

The Minister of the Sea has been on a working visit to the Kingdom of Spain since today, leading a national delegation from the maritime sector, including officials from IMar - Instituto do Mar I.P., Enapor - Portos De Cabo Verde, CABNAVE and DNPA - Direção Nacional de Pesca e Aquacultura, and will visit the cities of Madrid, Vigo, Santiago de Compostela, Coruña and Málaga.