"The choice is essentially to support the internationalization of Portuguese companies and promote Portugal's image," the president of CCIP, Nuno Magalhães, told Lusa, highlighting that the choice of the head of Portuguese diplomacy in Angola "is perfectly aligned with the theme of this year's Growth Forum, which is dedicated to Africa."
The theme of the forum taking place this week "is Africa, and therefore it makes perfect sense to choose the ambassador, who stands out for his role in deepening relations between Portugal and Angola, particularly at an economic level", added the leader of the CCIP.
Awarded "in agreement with the Diplomatic Institute, and which annually recognizes the head of the diplomatic mission who has stood out most for his results in supporting the internationalization of Portuguese companies and promoting Portugal's image", this year's award will be presented on Thursday, during the meeting dedicated to Africa.
The choice was made by the CCIP, in coordination with the Diplomatic Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but this year's forum introduces some changes that will have repercussions in the coming years: "Starting this year, the prize will be awarded at the business forum, and not at the economic forum, and a sum of five thousand euros will be awarded, which the winner will allocate to a 'startup' of their choice", said Nuno Magalhães.
Francisco Alegre Duarte was born in 1973 in Algeria and is a career diplomat. Graduated in Law from the University of Coimbra, he has a postgraduate degree in International Relations from the Higher Institute of Social and Political Sciences of the Technical University of Lisbon, and was a scholarship holder at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research at Columbia University, in New York.
Since the beginning of his diplomatic career in 1998, he has served in several missions abroad, including Timor-Leste, New York (with the United Nations), Angola and Italy, and has been ambassador to Angola since March 1, 2022.
