The Prime Minister, António Costa, leaves today for Maputo, where he will participate on Thursday and Friday in the V Luso-Moçambican Summit, which aims at "deepening bilateral relations" and signing "several cooperation instruments.

António Costa will be in the Mozambican capital for two days, accompanied by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, João Gomes Cravinho, of National Defense, Helena Carreiras, and of Agriculture and Food, Maria do Céu Antunes.

The Portuguese Government delegation also includes the Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Francisco André, for Fiscal Affairs, António Mendonça Mendes, and for the Economy, João Neves.

In a note released to the media about the visit, the Prime Minister's office indicates that the V Luso-Moçambican Summit "aims to deepen bilateral relations and the signing of various instruments of cooperation.

Speaking to the Lusa news agency, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation stressed that the agreements signed between the two countries are part of the Strategic Cooperation Program - signed in November 2021, with a duration of five years - and that, following the V Luso Mozambican Summit, "will be valued" and "developed" by the two governments.

"It is a program that establishes all the bases for bilateral cooperation in areas as important as health, education, areas of sovereignty such as defense, internal administration or justice, but that also intends to respond to important challenges that are faced at present, such as climate and digital. We want to respond in a global way to the socio-economic consequences of the covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine," Francisco André stressed to Lusa.

The governor said that this global instrument, or "political hat agreement" of Luso-Mozambican cooperation for November 2021, "has a financial envelope of 170 million euros, of which 80 million are for projects, programs and actions.

According to the Secretary of State, it represents "an increase of 12 million euros compared to the indicative envelope of the previous Strategic Cooperation Program (2017-2021) and that was based on an execution forecast, whose exercise was still ongoing at the time of signature."

Under this Strategic Cooperation Program, at the end of the V Luso Mozambican Summit, several cooperation agreements will be signed in the areas of agriculture, education, tourism and at the technical-police level.

Memoranda will also be signed with a view to improving capacity at the level of public administration, providing for closer collaboration between the inspectorates-general of finance of Mozambique and Portugal, as well as the entities responsible for food and economic security in each country, but also the implementation of cooperation instruments in the area of health, particularly in telemedicine, with a protocol between the Hospital of Maputo and the Hospitals of the University of Coimbra.

Francisco André also pointed out that some of the projects subsidized by the PROCULTURA project in Mozambique will be presented.

The Portuguese Prime Minister's visit starts on Thursday with a visit to the Monument to Mozambican Heroes, where he will lay a wreath, followed by meetings with the President of the Republic of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi, and the President of the Mozambican Parliament, Esperança Bias.

On the same day, António Costa will visit the Portuguese Cultural Center, where he will give a speech and visit the joint exhibition by Gonçalo Mabunda and Francisco Vidal.

The head of government's first day in Maputo ends with a dinner hosted by the President of the Republic of Mozambique.

On Friday, the Prime Minister's program includes a visit to FACIM (Maputo International Fair) and intervention at the opening of the Business Forum, a visit to the Portuguese troops and the European Union mission, as well as meetings with Portuguese businessmen and the Portuguese community in the country.

The Prime Minister's official visit to Mozambique was scheduled for July 11 and 12, but António Costa decided to cancel the trip due to the worsening fire risk in Portugal at the time.