Maia, Portugal, Jan. 5, 2021 (Lusa) - The Sao Tome and Principe Ambassador to Portugal today acknowledged that the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the European Union will be "extremely important" for cooperation between the two countries and to discuss the new Strategic Cooperation Plan with Portugal.

In an interview with Lusa, Sao Tome and Principe's Ambassador to Portugal, António Quintas do Espírito Santo, said he believed that the Portuguese presidency over the next six months would help to further develop cooperation activities between the two founding countries of the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP).

"This cooperation [between Portugal and Sao Tome and Principe] is a very important cooperation, especially in the new framework that is developing, where Portugal takes over the presidency of the Council of the European Union, which in itself will revive the role of cooperation between Sao Tome and Principe and Portugal and also in the field of the CPLP, which our two countries belong to and are founders," Santo said.

On the sidelines of the signing of the cooperation protocol in the field of civil construction training and vocational education between the Embassy of São Tomé and the Centro de Formação Profissional da Indústria da Construção Civil e Obras Públicas do Norte, located in Maia (Porto), Santo added that the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the European Union could speed up and help in the reprogramming of the activities of the Strategic Cooperation Plan (PEC) with Portugal.

According to Santo, Portuguese cooperation in São Tomé and Príncipe is "healthy" in that there are "quite enlightening" parts of the evolution of these relations, such as in "health, training, justice and various other areas".

"It is natural that we are approaching a phase of stocktaking and rediscussion of the new PEC and, of course, there are aspects that are going well and will not be changed, but I think that there is openness on both sides to take on new projects, to make new adaptations and see what can be done", he said.

The current international situation also points to the reprogramming of activities, he added, noting that the Covid-19 pandemic will bring things that can contribute to this reassessment.

"We think there will be openness - there has been - on both sides to these new realities," he said.

The Embassy of Sao Tome and Principe and the Centro de Formação Profissional da Indústria da Construção Civil e Obras Públicas do Norte (CICCOPN) signed a protocol of cooperation in the field of training in construction and vocational education on Tuesday.

The Ambassador said that this was an "excellent" agreement which "brings advantages" to the students as some "problems which seemed to be obstacles in the past" will be reduced, namely in the conditions of stays and support of scholarships to facilitate studies in the areas of public works, infrastructures or civil construction.

The protocol foresees that students with the 9th grade can complete the 12th grade and do professional training or students with the 12th grade can do a year of specialisation and later enter a higher education course such as civil construction, the ambassador noted.

Rui Valente, director of CICCOPN, told Lusa that the agreement signed today is "important" to develop a "strategy of rapprochement with the various PALOPs" (African Countries of Portuguese Official Language).

"Our intention is to maintain cooperation with each of the countries to bring young people from the PALOPs, particularly São Tomé and Príncipe here where they can receive professional training at the ICCPN so that they can also join the Portuguese labour market and also be able to return to São Tomé to help local development in the countries," he said.

The protocol allows the ICCPN to receive up to 160 young people in the next two or three years for training in the north of Portugal.

CCM/ADB // ADB.

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