Welcome to the page of the State Visit to Cape Verde

Ministers for Culture of Portugal and of Cape Verde,
Members of the Portuguese and Cape Verde Governments,
Members of Parliament,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I want to congratulate all those who, throughout the years, have been able to organize this Fair of the Portuguese Book in the City of Praia. To anyone who knows a little of the History of Cape Verde, its continued success will not come as a surprise. The people of Cape Verde have always distinguished themselves by knowing how to search, in education and in culture, the way to conquer adversities.

The recent creation of the public university mirrors well the drive and the attention provided by the authorities of Cape Verde to the citizens’ scientific and technical qualifications.

And it can well be said that this was a winning ticket. The extraordinary advances that Cape Verde has recorded on the path to development confirm that the investment in this sector was well worth while. It is always rewarding to place bets on training, especially in the current world we live in, where knowledge is a resource of the greatest importance, whether to compete in the markets or to guarantee participation in public life.

But this Fair equally represents another motive of joy for all of us. It is a Fair for books published in our common language, the language we share with six more States that have adopted it as their official language and which is, in accordance with the most recent studies, amongst the languages that show greater growth throughout the world.

As members of that immense community which is that of the Spoken Portuguese, dispersed over several continents, our two countries are linked by bonds of friendship and complicity which find their institutional reflection in this extraordinary project which is the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries.

We have to be able to transform this project into a live and action filled reality, either due to fidelity to a common past, which is an integral part of the identity of each of our nations, or as a tool to ensure the development and the welfare of all our peoples.

In order that Spoken Portuguese becomes a project looking towards the future, and not just an echo from the past, we have to intensify the already existing interchange, in order that the books which are written and the knowledge that is produced in each of our countries arrive at the whole universe of the Portuguese language.

Only thus will be able to become a veritable Community, within which all the different cultures interact for the common benefit.

A deputation of authors is accompanying me on this Visit, many of them represented in this Fair. I want to thank them for having accepted my invitation, thus allowing that, notwithstanding the works themselves, the public of Cape Verde may equally contact directly with their authors.

I end by wishing that the Book Fair will, once again this year, be a moment of high intellectual value, not just in the cultural life of the capital of Cape Verde, but also in the consolidation of the Portuguese speaking community..

Thank you very much.