Bissau, July 17, 2025 (Lusa) - Guinea-Bissau’s Foreign Minister Carlos Pinto Pereira said on Thursday that the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) should take on a transformative role that goes beyond rhetoric.
The Guinean official assumed the leadership of the CPLP Council of Ministers today, as part of the transition of the presidency of the community from Sao Tome and Principe to Guinea-Bissau.
The handover took place at the opening of the 30th meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers in Bissau, ahead of the CPLP Summit of Heads of State and Government, scheduled for Friday in the Guinean capital.
Bissau is hosting the Council of Ministers meeting for the second time, with the opening theme chosen by the Guinean presidency, “The CPLP and Food Sovereignty: a Path to Sustainable Development”.
The minister stressed that the chosen theme expresses the common concern with one of the greatest challenges facing the peoples of the CPLP: the right to adequate, safe and sustainable food.
For the Guinean minister, “food sovereignty is more than ensuring food production, it is guaranteeing the dignity of peoples, the resilience of nations and the stability of societies”.
Hunger, nutritional insecurity and external dependence, he continued, “directly affect the development of (…) economies and the health of (…) populations, particularly in Portuguese-speaking African countries”.
Carlos Pinto Pereira highlighted the community’s potential in terms of technical, scientific and solidarity cooperation, as a forum for political and diplomatic consultation, and emphasised the additional opportunities available for food sovereignty.
“We want the CPLP to go beyond rhetoric and assert itself as a real instrument of transformation. Food sovereignty must be a guaranteed right and not just an ideal,” he said.
During today’s meeting in Bissau, the CPLP foreign ministers will reflect and deliberate on practical and measurable actions, he said.
Among these, he highlighted the strengthening of cooperation in the agricultural and agri-food sector with the exchange of good practices, technology and effective public policies.
The participants also discuss promoting a CPLP technical platform for food sovereignty and ending hunger, investing in staff training and institutional capacity building, and taking advantage of the synergies of research centres and universities.
This meeting will also serve to assess the status of the agreement on mobility in the CPLP and new dynamics of economic cooperation, especially in strategic sectors such as health, renewable energy and sustainable investment.
The minister also expressed “his certainty that Guinea-Bissau is prepared to lead with responsibility”.
During the handover, Ilza Amado Vaz, Sao Tome and Principe's foreign minister, highlighted the coincidence of today’s date, which marks the 29th anniversary of the creation of the CPLP, in the year in which most Portuguese-speaking countries celebrate 50 years of independence.
She recalled that, upon assuming the presidency in August 2023, Sao Tome and Principe defined a strategy inspired by the motto “youth, sustainability,” which guided all initiatives and deliberations.
“During the two years of our mandate, we have placed youth at the centre of the CPLP’s priorities, recognising it as a transformative force in our societies, and we have affirmed sustainability as an essential path to development,” she said.
Sao Tome and Principe hopes to “leave a legacy for a more united CPLP and a vision to face challenges with confidence, solidarity and in a strategic manner”.
“Economic cooperation, which received a boost during our presidency, needs more space on our agenda. It is urgent to mobilise trade between the CPLP, attract investment and enhance local value chains,” she said.
Ilza Amado Vaz also considered it “imperative to strengthen” the joint response in the area of food sovereignty.
HFI/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
