According to Téte António, who was speaking at the opening session of the 16th extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP), there has been an increase in the interest of States and institutions to request partnerships through the obtaining the status of associated observer of the CPLP, for which "the statute was revised to regulate this accession and improve cooperation with associated observers".
"The change in the regulation of associated observers aims to adapt this desire of many to partner with us to the current reality of our organization", he said, in his capacity as acting president of the CPLP Council of Ministers.
At this meeting, the heads of diplomacy will also discuss the revision of the CPLP statutes, which must be suitable for economic cooperation, the priority defined by Angola's rotating presidency of the organisation, added Téte António.
In this regard, the meeting in Luanda, which will be attended by ministers from the organisation's nine member states, will discuss the need to create a directorate for economic and business affairs of the CPLP executive secretariat.
The review of the internal regulations of the CPLP staff is also one of the topics on the agenda.
"The CPLP has grown, we have drawn up strategic cooperation plans, we have expanded our community action in several areas, there are structural reforms today in our organization in which dialogue between Member States is fundamental", stressed Téte António.
"The Role of the Seas and Oceans in the International Projection of the CPLP" is the theme of this meeting in Luanda, in which the Portuguese delegation is headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, João Gomes Cravinho.
"We do not ignore that much remains to be done to have the CPLP we aspire to, like other international organizations, ours has urgent issues and imperious challenges", said Téte António.
"We are going to take advantage of this day of meeting to, once again, deal with the pressing issues of the CPLP with all our capacity and creativity to jointly obtain consensus that governs the norms of our organization", he stressed.
Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe and Timor-Leste are the nine Member States of the CPLP.
