Madrid, Spain, 3 July – Cape Verde and Spain are due next week in Madrid to sign a protocol for a development fund with capital of 50 million euros, Cape Verde’s prime minister, José Maria Neves said in Madrid Thursday.

In an interview with Portuguese news agency Lusa in Madrid, Neves said that the protocol would be signed on 8 July and noted that Spanish funding, which had risen three-fold from 9 to 27 million euros and was now being consolidated with the establishment of the development fund.

Noting the recent installation of the Spanish Embassy in Cape Verde and of an office of the International Cooperation Agency of Madrid, the prime minister said that the Spanish cooperation programme covered the immigration sector, combating poverty and the environment.

Bilateral cooperation is emerging alongside growing financial investment by Spain in Cape Verde, both via companies in the Canary Islands and the Galiza region, with “strong corporate investment.”

He particularly noted investments by the Rio Tuy group, which ahs built several hotels on the archipelago, and investment in creating a logistics base to support fishing in the port of Sao Vicente, in this case with the funding of Galician business owners. (macauhub)