President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Tuesday host his Portuguese counterpart President Marcelo Rebelo De Sousa, who is on a state visit to South Africa, at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.

Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said there are about 500,000 South Africans of Portuguese descent and about 200,000 Portuguese nationals who reside in South Africa permanently.

“Bilateral relations between South Africa and Portugal remain strong, covering a wide range of areas of co-operation,” he said.

The seventh bilateral consultations were hosted in Portugal on June 24 last year, co-chaired by South Africa’s international relations deputy minister Alvin Botes and Portuguese secretary of state of foreign affairs and co-operation Francisco Andre.

“South African exports in 2021 were valued at about R2.8bn while imports from Portugal were about R4.6bn in the same year. Food constitutes about 50% of South African exports to Portugal,” Magwenya said.

He said Ramaphosa and De Sousa will lead their respective delegations in official talks and engagements which will focus on the enhancement of co-operation in agriculture, basic education, defence, ocean economy, science and technology, tourism, and trade and investment.

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