Lisbon, Jan. 28, 2025 (Lusa) - Portugal's prime minister described Cabo Verde as "a priority partner" for Portugal on Tuesday and considered the VII Summit between the two countries to be historic, with a final balance of 30 bilateral instruments agreed.

"Cabo Verde is a priority partner for Portugal. It was simple to set the tone for this summit, one word is enough: together. Together for the future, for the deepening of our relationship of fraternity, whether of governments or of peoples," Luís Montenegro said at the final press conference of the VII Portugal-Cape Verde bilateral summit, alongside his counterpart Ulisses Correia e Silva.

Montenegro said the summit that ends today could be considered "historic" due to the number and scope of agreements signed.

At the VII Summit between the two countries, Portugal and Verde agreed on 30 bilateral instruments, twenty of which were signed on Monday and today, with 10 more to be signed by various organisations.

Montenegro highlighted the memorandum of understanding that extends a credit line for business investment projects up to €100 million, which he said tripled the previous amount of €30 million.

Other agreements highlighted by Montenegro included the extension of the programme to convert public debt into green investment through the Cabo Verde Climate and Environmental Fund—which triples from the initial €12.5 million to reach up to €42.5 million by 2030—and the strengthening of the commitment to training through Centres of Excellence for Professional Training in Cabo Verde.

"The challenge ahead of us is to deliver. We don't want this summit to be a set of declarations, of proposals set out in documents, that's important too, but we're going to have to take it to the ground, to concrete reality," he said.

SMA/ADB // ADB.

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