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

Madam President Michelle Bachelet, Excellency,
Authorities,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am particularly pleased to welcome you, Madam President, on this State Visit to Portugal. We receive Your Excellency as the Head of State of a friendly country and as a personality whose personal and political course is an example to all.

Neither I nor my wife will ever forget the hospitality which Your Excellency and the Chilean people showed us in November 2007, or the multiple signs of friendship which we were so happy to witness.

Portugal and Chile have much in common.

I recall, in this instance, the meeting, in Isla Negra, in the house of Pablo Neruda, with a group of young Chileans who were studying the Portuguese language, when we invoked, through the works of great Chilean and Portuguese poets, our common links to the Sea.

The history of our relationship is centuries old. Portugal was the first country to recognize the independence of the Chilean State. And it is with great honour that it will be present, following Your Excellency’s invitation, in the Regatta celebrating the Commemorations of the Bicentenary of the Independence of Chile, with the participation of the Portuguese Naval Training Ship “Sagres”.

During the many years of our relationship we were able to recognize the affinities that link us and to build a solid friendly relation. The Memorandum of Understanding on Political Consultation which will be signed tomorrow, and Chile’s support to the Portuguese application to the United Nations Security Council which I want, once more, to give thanks for, are clear instances of the excellent level of our political relationship.

An excellence we would like to see enlarged into other areas.

To start with, in the economic field. I recognize the progress achieved since my last Visit to Chile, accompanied by an entrepreneurial mission which brought back excellent references. The presence of Portuguese companies and investments in Chile increased and new means of cooperation were opened up as will be reflected tomorrow with the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding on renewable energies.

Conditions exist, however, for us to be more ambitious. Trading exchanges are still far from their potential and the advantages are evident in closer cooperation and partnerships in areas such as tourism, technological innovation, building and management of infrastructures or viticulture. I am certain that the Economic Seminar which will be held tomorrow will be an important contribution for such a purpose.

There is still much to be done as well in cultural exchange and in the cooperation between academic and research institutions. This is where, in many instances, the bonds of complicity are woven which harbour cooperation in other fields.

Madam President,

Your Excellency has just honoured us with your presence in the ceremony which celebrated the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon. As I had the opportunity to refer on that occasion, we want this Treaty to serve the project of a Europe open to the world. Nothing else could anyway be expected from a country that Pablo Neruda called the “bow of Europe”.

Portugal has defended a deeper relationship of the European Union with Latin America and with the countries belonging there.

With respect to the relations between the European Union and Chile, we believe that the results reached under the Agreement of Association justify a new stage of relationship. In this regard, I wish to reassert, Madam President, our firm support for the negotiations conducing to the setting up of an Association for Development and Innovation, between the European Union and Chile.

Madam President,

Chile is a source of examples, which deserve our reflection and justify our admiration.

Example of a country which overcame a traumatic stage of its History and was able to consolidate a democratic regime, based upon an open economy, strictly managed, which has guaranteed notable progress in development; a country which does not ignore social concerns – and, here, I want to pay tribute to Your Excellency’s achievements in this area; a country which built a network of bilateral relationships which have turned it into a platform for other nations and continents; a country that was able to prepare itself to take advantage of the opportunities of the global world in which we live, and that regards the future with confidence.

A country to which Portugal feels very specially linked and with which we want an ever closer relationship. I know we will always have in Your Excellency, Madam President, a close ally in this objective. I am a privileged witness, since the first day we met, of your very special regard for Portugal and the Portuguese.

I ask you all to join me in a toast to the health and personal happiness of President Michele Bachelet, to the prosperity of the friendly people of Chile and to the future of the relations between our two countries.

Thank you very much.