Dili, June 27, 2026 (Lusa) - The former Executive Secretary of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), Zacarias da Costa, stated that, 30 years after its creation, the organisation has greater international significance, and can further strengthen its connection with its citizens.
“I believe we have made progress, progress that undoubtedly faced pauses due to international events which have also presented opportunities for multilateral institutions to reassess their role; it is therefore a challenging yet promising time, and I believe we are continuing along this path and today the CPLP has much greater international relevance than before,” said Zacarias da Costa, a Timorese national, in an interview with Lusa.
The former foreign minister of Timor-Leste served as the CPLP's executive secretary for two terms, from 2021 to 2025.
Zacarias da Costa emphasised that the process of establishing the organisation’s profile is still ongoing, but that, for example, over the last four years the CPLP has worked more closely with international organisations, signed agreements and seen several countries express an interest in becoming associate observers.
“Essentially, the CPLP is still a governmental organisation. We have been making an effort to get closer to citizens, to make the organisation more of an organisation of peoples, but I know that this takes a long time, because, after all, it is challenging to keep up with the dynamics of the nine countries, which are moving at different paces and have different dynamics,” he said.
Asked whether the CPLP should focus more on economic integration, Zacarias da Costa stated that efforts in this direction have been underway since Timor-Leste’s last presidency of the organisation, between 2014 and 2016.
“In recent years, we have made a huge effort to enable countries to move more quickly towards economic cooperation,” he said, emphasising that this depends heavily on the dynamics of the individual countries.
The former Timorese minister cited, as an example, the possibility of creating a financial institution to provide credit to CPLP entrepreneurs, a proposal that is still working to secure the consensus of the member states.
However, he recalled that the Secretariat had established a directorate for economic and business affairs and the Forum of Investment Promotion Agencies.
“We have several initiatives, but we are still working to consolidate the CPLP’s economic dimension. There is still much more to do,” he told Lusa.
Regarding the feedback that the organisation produces many declarations and could benefit from more tangible results, the former executive secretary stated that this is “part of the process too”, arguing that it is necessary to move from “declarations to concrete actions”.
“Obviously, this also means restructuring to be closer to citizens,” he said.
“Today, the organisation is still somewhat cumbersome. I recognise this, and the member states recognise it too, but I believe we can work towards ensuring that we go beyond mere declarations, which are often very fine-sounding, and transform the commitments made at summits and ministerial meetings into a reality in the day-to-day work of the CPLP.”
Zacarias da Costa argued that the CPLP must keep pace with a world undergoing profound transformations and changes and adapt to meet the challenges of the future.
The CPLP was established in Lisbon on 17 July 1996 by Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and Sao Tome and Príncipe.
Timor-Leste joined the organisation in 2002, following the restoration of its independence on 20 May of that year, and Equatorial Guinea joined in 2014 at the Dili summit.
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