At the end of a meeting of about half an hour with the President of the Republic of Timor-Leste, at the official residence in São Bento, Luís Montenegro highlighted the "honour and gratitude" of receiving José Ramos-Horta on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the 25th of April.

"Timor-Leste is a brotherly people, a brotherly country and the presence of President Ramos Horta has a very special meaning for all of us. Thank you very, very much on behalf of the Portuguese Government for participating in these celebrations", he said.

The Prime Minister expressed his intention to continue to deepen cooperation between the two countries "in the areas of culture, language, education and also in the economic area".

"Timor-Leste recently joined the World Trade Organization and has a geostrategic location that can boost, from the point of view of the Portuguese economy, many opportunities", he defended.

Luís Montenegro stressed that Portugal "is already the largest European economic partner" of Timor-Leste, but considered that it is possible to go further.

"We are convinced (...) that we can take advantage of this location not only in relation to the economy of Timor-Leste but, with the use of this location and all the relations that Timor has in the region, we can effectively enter markets, which from the point of view of quality and quantity, can accommodate products that Portuguese companies produce with quality and have the capacity to compete with the best in the world", he said.

The Prime Minister specified that he was talking about products such as "clothing, footwear, wine, olive oil or medicines".

"Many areas of our economic activity have markets available in Southeast Asia that Timor-Leste is also very interested in being a partner", he said.

In a statement without the right to questions, alongside President Ramos-Horta, in the garden of the São Bento Palace, Luís Montenegro said that he had already shared with the Prime Minister of Timor-Leste, Xanana Gusmão, in the first days of his term, by telephone, these "points of cooperation" between the two governments.

"Today I had the opportunity, with President Ramos Horta, to exchange impressions on the political situation in Timor-Leste and the entire region and to plan for the coming years the bilateral relations, within the scope of the CPLP, and the relations that Timor-Leste, through Portugal, has with the European Union", he said.

The Prime Minister stressed that, "above all", the two countries share "common values of peace, democracy, human rights and the value of language".

"The 25th of April was, on this occasion, the pretext for us to come together, but Mr President there will be no shortage of reasons for us to continue to meet and put our energy at the service of our peoples, of the development of our countries and of the well-being of the people", he stressed.

Luís Montenegro also made a point of recalling the distinction awarded to Ramos-Horta in 1996, when he received the Nobel Peace Prize.

"See. You have already given many examples of dedication to the well-being of people in your public life (...) It is in this example that we are inspired every day to value the human condition as the ultimate goal of our intervention as rulers", he said.

The President of Timor-Leste is on an official visit to Portugal, during which he will participate in the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the 25th of April.

During the visit to Portugal, which ends on 28th of April, José Ramos-Horta will meet, in addition to the Prime Minister, with the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and with the president of the parliament, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco.

[News updated at 4:19 pm]

Read Also: Timor-Leste calls for "immediate end to violence" in Myanmar (Portuguese version)