"It is a conference of the utmost importance, we want this conference to be a landmark in the defense of the oceans to prevent its decline to deepen the nexus between the protection of the oceans", said this Thursday Francisco Alegre Duarte, in Luanda.
The Portuguese diplomat participated in the meeting with the ambassadors of the member countries of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP) for the preparation of the 5th Meeting of Ministers for Sea Affairs of the CPLP.
This meeting is scheduled for the 24th, 25th and 26th of May, in Luanda, and should approve a resolution on the creation of a platform and cooperation in promoting sustainable fishing and combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
Portugal will be represented at the Luanda summit by the Portuguese Secretary of State for the Sea, João Maria Costa.
For Francisco Alegre Duarte, the CPLP ministerial meeting, in the capital, "will be very useful" in the antechamber of the United Nations conference on the Oceans, co-organized by Portugal and Kenya, which will take place in Lisbon from 27 June to 1 July.
"It is evident that this meeting here, in Luanda, will have the 'input' of the CPLP countries, which are all coastal states, and interested in the protection of their marine resources", he stressed.
"We will be present through the participation of the Secretary of State for the Sea, engineer João Maria Costa, and we hope to contribute to making the summit a success", he noted.
Speaking at the end of the meeting that took place at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Luanda, Francisco Alegre Duarte also highlighted the "excellent bilateral relations with Angola in the maritime domain".
"Angola has a great coastline and to protect it it is necessary to have the means and the capacity and for that reason we support Angola's actions in this area", concluded the Portuguese ambassador.
The Cape Verdean ambassador to Angola, Jorge Figueiredo, pointed out the relevance of the preparatory meeting for the CPLP ministerial summit, recalling that the Member States have a huge coastline and "must cooperate" to stop illegal fishing.
"Certainly, as you know, fishing practiced by certain developed countries, namely European and Eastern ones, has been disturbing and altering the oceans and affecting the lives of fishermen and their families and the very wealth of the CPLP countries", he said. to Lusa.
