The 23rd Partnership Commission between Cabo Verde and Luxembourg has concluded, with the aim of discussing the broad lines of cooperation between the two partner countries since 1993.

The meeting was co-chaired, on the Cape Verdean side, by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation, and Regional Integration, Rui Figueiredo Soares, and, on the Luxembourg side, by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Xavier Bettel.

During this annual meeting, which was deemed successful by both parties, Cabo Verde and Luxembourg assessed the progress made in implementing projects under the Indicative Cooperation Programme "Development-Climate-Energy" (PIC DCE), signed in 2020. This program aims to strengthen coherence and synergies between development actions and other policy areas.

For this year, activities worth almost 25 million euros were highlighted during the meeting, including the installation of a solar-powered desalination plant capable of producing drinking water to meet the needs of Brava Island, the restructuring of the vocational training financing system, which has already benefited 2,300 young people, and a project aimed at improving hygiene conditions and access to water for nearly one in every two school-age children in Cabo Verde.

At the conclusion of this 23rd Partnership Commission, a memorandum of understanding formalizing support of 547,710 euros was signed for the National Statistics Institute (INE) of Cabo Verde. This memorandum aims to strengthen the human, material, and technological capacities of the INE, improve the coverage and quality of statistical production, and strengthen the communication, dissemination, and use of official statistics.

For Minister Bettel, the meeting was an opportunity to discuss the future configuration of cooperation relations between the two countries, according to the interests and needs of Cape Verde, and the experience of Luxembourg.

"I congratulate Cabo Verde for its resilience in the face of successive crises in recent years, which, however, have left their mark. In this context, I reaffirm the full support of Luxembourg Cooperation to Cabo Verde. I also welcome our shared commitment to an international order based on multilateralism, international law, peace, and the rule of law," stated the Luxembourg Minister.

Minister Rui Figueiredo Soares, in turn, thanked Luxembourg for being a friendly, reliable, and supportive partner, acknowledging that challenges remain enormous for a small island country like Cabo Verde.

"The world as we knew it has changed, with the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the energy crisis, and, more recently, the Israel-Gaza conflict, increasing the global fragility of countries. Cabo Verde is no exception. At the same time, we have always been able to count on the support of the Luxembourgish government, which understood the many challenges that Cabo Verde has had to face and must face, and has proven to be a friendly, reliable, and supportive partner. We are grateful to the people and the government of Luxembourg," he emphasized.

Cabo Verde and Luxembourg signed several agreements some years ago; however, some have not yet been implemented, prompting the Cape Verdean Diplomacy Chief to encourage the technical delegations of both countries to work towards their implementation.

Rui Figueiredo Soares, who gave a positive assessment of the meeting, said that the Government of Cabo Verde is "very satisfied" with the level of implementation of the PIC/Indicative Cooperation Programme - "Climate and Energy Development" (2021-2025). Finally, the MNECIR invited his counterpart to visit Cabo Verde later this year.

Also participating in this meeting were the Ministers of Agriculture and Environment, Gilberto Silva, as well as the Minister of Industries, Commerce, and Energy, Alexandre Monteiro.

During his official visit to Luxembourg, the Cape Verdean Diplomacy Chief also met with the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, H.E. Luc Frieden, as well as members of the Commission of External Relations, European Affairs, Cooperation, External Trade, and the Greater Region.