Welcome to the Official page of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic

I start by once again letting you know, Mister President, of the immense satisfaction with which Portugal is welcoming you and Mrs. Isaura Nyusi and your retinue. Your Visit, which greatly honours us, has a very special significance.

Special, to begin with, because it is the visit of a close Friend, whom we will always welcome with great pleasure and respect.

Special, also, due to the fact that Your Excellency chose Portugal as the first destination, outside the African continent, amongst the bilateral visits that you will hold as the Highest Magistrate of the Mozambican Nation, which is revealing of the fraternal friendship and the vigour of the existing strategic partnership between Portugal and Mozambique.

Special, equally, due to the material results that have emerged from this same strategy. I underline, amongst the agreements subscribed yesterday, the Protocol concerning the regularizing of the situation of the real estate occupied by the Chancellery and Residence of the Portuguese Embassy in Maputo and by the Chancellery of the Mozambican Embassy in Lisbon, and the Memorandum of Understanding between the Governments of the Portuguese Republic and the Government of the Mozambican Republic regarding the Programmatic Support Partnership for the 2015-2020 period.

I also greet with great pleasure, the reference, in the Joint Declaration issued yesterday, to the III Bilateral Summit between our two countries to be held in 2016.

Along with these agreements, which strengthen the juridical framework of our relationship, I am certain that the Business Forum held today, as well as the meetings carried out in its sphere, will incentivize the deepening and continued dynamics of our excellent bilateral relationship.

Mister President,

I acutely salute the drive that Your Excellency has placed in the process of dialogue and reconciliation in Mozambique. These are essential measures carried out in order that the country may proceed in the path of peace and development. In addition to plentiful natural resources, Mozambique can count upon the enormous wealth of a young population, which must be provided with opportunities and with a sense of what the future may bring them. It can, as always, rely upon Portugal’s firm support in the search for the modules of cooperation that will enable it to create and diversify such opportunities.

Mozambique, whose economic potential is more than ever capturing the attention of the international community, stands out by the drive and dynamism placed on the work of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP). This issue must be emphasized, since I believe that the strengthening of the economic relationship between our two countries must equally include using the opportunities presented by the differing regional and multilateral frameworks in which Portugal and Mozambique are comprised, taking special advantage from the potential that both countries detain as platforms in the geographical spaces in which they are inserted.

As I had the opportunity to witness today, Mister President, in our visit to the exhibition “Retrospective of 40 years of Mozambican independence – Mozambican artists in Portugal”, in the National Fine Arts Society, the prestige of the widely recognized Mozambican artistic and literary community provides a valuable contribution to Mozambique’s international prominence, simultaneously with enriching the area of CPLP’s cultural achievements

Mister President,

It is my firm conviction that the continued deepening of our bonds of friendship and cooperation shall mutually benefit our peoples. Your Excellency’s Visit surely offers an important marker in this ongoing procedure.

It is in this spirit that I ask you all to join me in a toast to the health and wellbeing of President Filipe Nyusi and Mrs. Isaura Nyusi, to the prosperity of the people of Mozambique and to the bonds of fraternal friendship that link Portugal and Mozambique.

Thank you very much.