The Minister of Foreign Affairs, João Gomes Cravinho, met this Wednesday with his Algerian counterpart, Ramtane Lamamra, who expressed interest in Portuguese companies investing in solar and wind energy in Algeria.
Speaking to Lusa, João Cravinho also said that a “high-level meeting chaired by the prime ministers” of the two countries had been decided for 2023, a meeting that will take place in Algeria, in addition to a state visit by the president of Algeria to Portugal.
The Portuguese Minister for Foreign Affairs said that today’s visit to Algeria, where he was with Ramtane Lamamra, whom he has known since 2005, when he was ambassador in Lisbon, is “based on old knowledge”, but also a visit to a country that “not being a neighbor”, shares “many concerns”. “Not being a neighboring country, it shares almost many concerns about the region, the Mediterranean, the European Union’s relationship with Africa and the Arab world. For us it was important to talk about what we can do together in a framework of geopolitical and geoeconomic transformation”, he explained.
João Cravinho stressed that the issue of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia was a factor “that could not fail to be the subject of dialogue”, adding that the “geo-economic issues related to energy, renewable energies and the opportunities that present with the digital transition” were also on the table.
“Although Algeria is a major exporter of fossil fuels, it is also a country with immense potential in terms of solar and wind energy. We have very qualified companies in these areas and there was an expression of interest from the Algerian side in [ter] Portuguese investors in these areas”, said the minister.
The official said that this will be an issue to work with the Portuguese Investment and Foreign Trade Agency (AICEP), with the Secretary of State for internationalization, as well as with the sectoral ministry, namely, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. . A “high-level meeting chaired by the prime ministers” of the two countries is scheduled for 2023, a meeting that will take place in Algeria, in addition to a state visit by the president of Algeria to Portugal.
“We have a very intense schedule between the two countries. Now we are going to try to organize the mixed commission where technicians from both countries meet”, he said and stressed that there are “14 legal instruments that are practically finalized and that will be signed” in 2023.
João Gomes Cravinho was visiting Algeria today to assess bilateral relations in the economic field but also in terms of cooperation, language and culture, and also to discuss international issues.
Source: Observadora
