Prime Minister Luís Montenegro on a four-day official visit taking in China, Macau and Japan has announced that Portugal and Japan are elevating their bilateral relationship to a “strategic partnership” which will constitute a “new phase” in cooperation between the two countries.
“This is not just a vague designation, an expression, it is a commitment to take our cooperation further in terms of culture, economics and the development of new areas of relationship,” said Montenegro at the end of a working meeting with outgoing Japanese prime minister Shigeru Ishiba on the first day of his official visit to Japan.
The head of Portugal’s government highlighted security and defence, new technologies, energy and the sharing of scientific knowledge between educational institutions as areas to be developed in the future in bilateral relations – while economy minister Miguel Castro Almeida met with his counterpart with a view to ‘diversifying markets’ hit by the United States’ tariffs.
Mr Montenegro was received at Kantei, the official residence of the Japanese prime minister, with a guard of honour, and in his final statement, without taking questions, he highlighted the 480-year relationship between the two countries, considering that his visit to Japan “is proof of friendship and an opportunity”.
In the political sphere, the joint declaration establishing the strategic partnership will mean “greater regularity” in meetings between the two countries, he said, highlighting the meetings already taking place with the ministers of foreign affairs, Paulo Rangel, and Manuel Castro Almeida, as part of the Portuguese delegation.
On the economic front, the prime minister stressed that there are more than a thousand Portuguese companies active in the Japanese market, in areas as diverse as agriculture, industry, medicines and energy, to which the strategic partnership will add others, such as civil protection, security and defence.
“We also want to preserve what has been a common heritage at the cultural and linguistic level. I would like to highlight the fact that there are many Japanese people learning Portuguese and also that Japanese is taught in Portugal,” said the PM.
Mr Montenegro pointed to the Osaka Expo2025, which he is due to visit tomorrow, as “perfect testimony to this dimension of political, cultural and economic cooperation”, welcoming the success of the event – noting that the Portuguese Pavilion alone “has already been visited by more than 1.4 million citizens”.
At the international level, the PM stressed that there is “a very large convergence” of positions with Japan, taking the opportunity to reiterate condemnation of Russia “for the violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine”, not referring to the recent incursion by Russian drones into Polish airspace.
Mr Montenegro also condemned North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic programme.
“I am absolutely convinced that this visit will mark a new phase in our relationship, the beginning of a strategic partnership that is effectively a new stage, aimed at bringing more well-being and development to our countries,” he stressed.
Earlier, the Japanese Prime Minister, who is resigning following his defeat in the July legislative elections, said that cooperation between the two countries “is more important than ever” in view of the “challenging security environment” in the world.
Ishiba pointed out that around 120 Japanese companies operate in Portugal and that “business cooperation in the field of renewable energy and infrastructure continues to grow”.
“We hope to see even greater development of trade and investment relations between the two countries,” he added, expressing interest in “contributing to the economic and social development of Portuguese-speaking countries”.
Source: LUSA
