Luxembourg continues € 51 million aid program to Cape Verde

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Communities José Brito has announced that the government of Luxembourg is going to maintain its € 51 million financing program for Cape Verde for the third Indicative Cooperation Plan, which will cover the period between 2011 and 2015. In a press conference, Brito also announced that relations between the two countries could evolve to include business partnerships in the coming years. José Brito returned relieved from a two-day visit to Luxembourg, bringing with him the guarantee that the Grand Duchy will maintain its € 51 million in aid to Cape Verde, which the cabinet minister feared might be reduced due to the international financial crisis.

For the 2011-2015 period, the aid program will focus more on education, health, professional training, water and sewage, and less on infrastructures, in contrast with second Indicative Cooperation Program, which is currently in its final phase. “We’ve already begun to have infrastructures, namely schools, and now we have to provide them with quality. We’re going to build less and give them a greater management capacity and improve their quality.”

The third Indicative Cooperation Program will be signed between September and October of next year in Praia during a visit by the Luxembourg commission to Cape Verde.

The second Indicative Cooperation Program will end in 2010. 80% of the program has been completed, and it is expected to be concluded with an execution rate of more than 100% because “the second Indicative Cooperation Program was for 45 million euros, but has to be increased to 50 million. I am certain we will conclude everything,” said Brito. Among the infrastructures built within the framework of the program are the Praia Hotel School and Fogo High School.

Business partnerships

Brito took advantage of his trip to Luxembourg to measure the country’s economy and examine the possibility of investment on the part of Luxembourg-based businesses in Cape Verde. “The door is open to creating a more consolidated economic link with Luxembourg. We also want to continue and consolidate cooperation between the two chambers of commerce,” said the Foreign Minister.

Brito also revealed that Luxembourg-based airline Luxer, which also owns a travel agency, is interested in investing in Cape Verde. “The idea, more than just the scheduling of international flights, is to begin to promote our country and try to make it a tourist destination for citizens of Luxembourg, since they usually opt for the Canary Islands.”