The two government leaders met on the sidelines of the international conference on democracy taking place this Monday and Tuesday on the island of Sal, Cape Verde.
Cape Verde is due to host the next meeting of the joint commission with São Tomé and Príncipe between September and October, which could be accompanied by a business forum, São Toméan Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada announced on Monday, April 8.
"We have the ambition, in the wake of the good political relations of our fraternity, to be able to develop an economic agenda," something that should gain new impetus at the next meeting of the joint commission, said Trovoada, at the end of an audience granted by the Cape Verdean Prime Minister, Ulisses Correia e Silva.
The two government leaders met on the sidelines of the international conference on democracy, taking place this Monday and Tuesday on the island of Sal, Cape Verde.
The meeting served as an opportunity for the two leaders to discuss bilateral relations and to look at the timetable, with the joint commission planning to meet before the local elections in Cape Verde.
Patrice Trovoada pointed to "an economic or investment forum" being held at the same time, in order to materialize a "long-held" ambition of seeing Cape Verdean entrepreneurs in São Tomé and Príncipe and vice versa.
In addition to focusing on specific sectors of activity, the two governments are discussing how to respond to "a concern of the communities" in both countries, "air connections between São Tomé and Príncipe and Cape Verde".
"The airline sector is quite complex, it often requires state intervention in terms of subsidies" and, in the case of Cape Verde and São Tomé, there is a "fundamental partner, Angola, which in the past provided connections between Luanda, São Tomé and Praia", the Cape Verdean capital, said Patrice Trovoada.
Another option could be airlines that pass through Cape Verde and São Tomé, such as Asky.
"We're working with everyone. We know that a lot of people are looking at us, waiting for us, to see if São Toméan and Cape Verdean families meet more often," he said.
The sectors in focus at the meeting are expected to include agriculture, livestock and fishing, as well as another area in which Cape Verde already collaborates with São Tomé and Príncipe: "human resources training, particularly in tourism. This is a sector in which there is potential for intervention by the Cape Verdean private sector," he added.
"I'm convinced that a well-prepared business forum will bring concrete results," he concluded.
Source: NOVO