Portugal and Switzerland both build bridges

Prime Minister Luís Montenegro hosted the President of the Swiss Republic Viola Amherd, who is on an official visit to Portugal. In a statement at the end of their meeting, Luís Montenegro stressed the importance of the "Portuguese community in Switzerland from a quantitative perspective", "much more relevant than the Swiss community in Portugal, yet we treat the Swiss community with the same focus and respect as we treat our nationals" 

"And we also acknowledge that the Swiss authorities have been outstanding in welcoming and integrating the around 260 thousand Portuguese people who reside in Switzerland today, plus another 50 thousand Portuguese descendants", he added.

The Prime Minister noted bilateral cooperation in science, universities, and technology, the vibrancy of which has consequences at a later stage on investment "namely in new sectors, such as artificial intelligence".

Portugal is committed to "being even more attractive so that Swiss enterprises and capital come to Portugal, creating new opportunities for both our countries", as we are "fully betted" "in continuing to welcome Swiss tourists and investors".

Luís Montenegro summarised that Portugal and Switzerland have excellent bilateral relations, with shared values of democracy, respect for international law and humanitarian values, and both "build bridges".

An example of these relations "is the proof of friendship and esteem we get from the Swiss Confederation by backing our application to become non-permanent members of the Security council for 2027/2028", he indicated.

Portugal, in turn, has shown its commitment to concluding the strategic partnership agreement between the European Union and the Swiss Confederation: in terms of the European institutions, Portugal has been vehement in concluding that brief. "It is determining for Europe and it is determining for us", he added.