Cidade da Praia, Cape Verde, 27 Nov – Cape Verdean and Dutch officials begin on Monday their second bilateral contacts this year in the Hague against a background of a new model of cooperation between the two countries, officials said.

Cape Verde’s foreign minister, Victor Borges, will discuss with the Dutch government the possibility of creating a similar mechanism in Holland to facilitate integration of Praia’s immigrant community to the one already existing in Portugal, a diplomatic source said.

The bilateral talks come at a time when Dutch cooperation to Cape Verde is being refocused to the archipelago’s requirements as a more developed state through the construction of major infrastructures.

Also on the agenda of the Hague talks is Cape Verdean emigration to Holland, which is not considered a religious of cultural “problem” by the Dutch authorities.

Although Cape Verde’s immigrant community in Holland have largely managed to successfully integrate into the host society, there are still some problems in this area and this is why Foreign Minister Borges will propose the setting up of a monitoring mechanism in the Netherlands based on a system already existing in Portugal.

Dutch and Cape Verdean officials will also study budget support to Praia from the Netherlands, expected to continue until 2008, in addition to progress in projects of the second National Environment Program, funded by Holland through the World Bank. (macauhub)