afrol News, 20 November - Cape Verdean Prime Minister José Maria Neves yesterday made an formal request for French economic and financial aid in Paris during his official visit to France. In particular, Mr Neves solicited French aid in the development of his archipelago's promising tourism sector.

Prime Minister Neves is currently on a two-week official round trip to various European countries. The main aim of Mr Neves' diplomatic offensive is to secure European business investments in the tourism sector of Cape Verde, in addition to plead for more state-to-state cooperation between Cape Verde and these countries.

Since last week and until the forthcoming Monday, The Cape Verdean political leader therefore is touring Western European capitals. According to Praia government sources, Mr Neves' roundtrip includes stops in Luxembourg, Paris, Amsterdam and Lisbon. Just as on his recent trip to Brazil and Argentina, the focus is on privet business investments in Cape Verde.

In Paris, Mr Neves yesterday was received by Pierre-André Wiltzer, French Minister of the Francophonie and Development. According to French government sources, the talks had concentrated on a deepening of bilateral relations and had included an exchange of opinions about current developments in Western Africa and in the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP).

The importance of the visit is emphasised by Cape Verdean officials. According to José Armando Duarte, Cape Verde's Ambassador in Paris, Mr Neves' visit marks a new stage of the bilateral cooperation with France. Mr Armando said the Prime Minister was asking Paris for aid in developing a new economic strategy that is to make the sectors of tourism and industry more dynamic.

Mr Neves is to stay in Paris for five days, during which he will have several meetings with French government economy and finance decision-makers. Here, the Prime Minister is to present investment opportunities in Cape Verde. He is also meeting French business leaders.

Mr Neves' European roundtrip started in the small but rich principality Luxemburg, which is one of Cape Verde's main cooperation partners. Here, he met with the Luxembourgian Prime Minister Jean Claude Junker, discussing the cooperation between the two countries.

The official visit in Luxembourg coincided with the initiation of the fifth Luxembourgian-Cape Verdean cooperation commission and comes one month after a new bilateral cooperation programme was agreed on in Praia, the Cape Verdean capital. This euros 33.5 million programme aims at reducing poverty in Cape Verde by developing the sectors of education, human resources, health, water and sewage.

The Prime Minister's next stop will be in the Netherlands, which also has several cooperation programmes with Cape Verde. The Dutch-Cape Verdean cooperation is focused on environmental issues and the promotion of small and medium sized enterprises. Mr Neves' final stop is in Portugal, Cape Verde's ex-colonial power and main cooperation partner.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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