Ambassador António Gamito Highlights Luso-Luxembourg Economic Relationship, Social Responsibilities on Portugal Day

Portugal is celebrating its National Day, also known as Portugal Day (officially Day of Portugal) today, Friday 10 June 2022.

Portugal Day commemorates the death of Luís Vaz de Camões, a Portuguese poet and national literary icon, on 10 June 1580. He wrote Os Lusíadas, an epic poem celebrating Portuguese history and achievements, and highlighting the 15th century explorations, which brought fame and fortune to Portugal.

According to the national persons register, Luxembourg is home to 110,323 Portuguese nationals (as of 31 March 2022), representing over 17% of all residents and the largest community of foreign nationals in the Grand Duchy.

On the occasion of Portugal Day, Chronicle.lu reached out to the Embassy of Portugal in Luxembourg for more details on the events and celebrations.

António Gamito, Portugal's Ambassador to Luxembourg, confirmed that after two years of online-only celebrations due to COVID-19 related health measures, in 2022, the Embassy is organising events in a blended format. An in-person, invitation-only function at Cercle Cité in Luxembourg-ville at 18:00. This event will be live streamed on Bomdia.lu, a Portuguese-language online newspaper based in Luxembourg.

In the morning, at 10:30, there will be a wreath deposition at the bust of Luís Vaz de Camões in Place Joseph Thorn in Luxembourg-Merl.

Speaking about Luxembourg-Portugal bilateral relations, Ambassador Gamito recalled that Their Royal Highnesses the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg paid a two-day State visit to Portugal on 11 and 12 May 2022 - the second of their reign - at the invitation of the Portuguese President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. They were accompanied by Luxembourg's Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Jean Asselborn, the Minister for Family Affairs and Integration, Corinne Cahen, the Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, Minister of the Economy, Franz Fayot, and the Minister of Finance, Yuriko Backes, as well as 130 business leaders and delegates.

The Portuguese Ambassador noted that one of the highlights of this State visit was the Business Forum, co-organised by both countries' trade and investment agencies, where more than 300 companies from both countries explored potential new partnerships in key economic sectors. He said that he expected this Business Forum to lay the foundations to bring the economic relationship to a new level.

Ambassador Gamito affirmed that the leaders of both countries meet and speak often, adding that Luxembourg and Portugal share very closely aligned positions in the European Union (EU), in the United Nations (UN) and in NATO.

He elaborated that the main anchor for this strong Luso-Luxembourg relationship was "naturally" the large Portuguese community that lives and works in the Grand Duchy. He said that the numbers speak for themselves and with this unique situation, the Portuguese community is also recognised as a contributing factor in the development of the Grand Duchy.

Discussing the focus areas for the Embassy, Ambassador Gamito clarified that the Portuguese diplomatic mission in Luxembourg has four areas of activity: an embassy, which deals with the political and diplomatic relations between the States, as well as economic, social and legal affairs; a Consulate-General, which provides government services to Portuguese citizens living in Luxembourg as well as to many cross-border workers; a Teaching Coordination, which offers Portuguese language and culture courses to more than 3,000 students in Luxembourg; and a Cultural Centre, where a cultural agenda of exhibitions, book launches, conferences, concerts and talks are organised. He stated that the Embassy is constantly working to improve the activities and services provided in these different areas of activity.

Further discussing the evolution of the Portuguese community in Luxembourg over the years, Ambassador Gamito emphasised that with a community of more than 110,000 people and after decades of migration, people of all walks of life are witnessed, with different backgrounds and objectives for their emigration. Some have settled in Luxembourg and plan to stay here indefinitely, and have their children and even grandchildren in Luxembourg, while others are pursuing international careers, which are necessarily more mobile. In his experience, the Portuguese community in Luxembourg has strong ties with Portugal, which they fortunately can and do visit regularly. He expressed pride over this "truly" representative and beneficial form of interconnectedness made possible by the EU.

Finally, as a message for the Portuguese people in Luxembourg on the occasion of Portugal Day, Ambassador Gamito, said: "I would take this opportunity to remind my fellow citizens of the importance of their children continuing to learn Portuguese language and culture, as well as those of Luxembourg, and to participate more actively in local civic life by exercising their citizenship, making Luxembourg more plural and our community more present".

The Portuguese Ambassador also mentioned that on Saturday 11 June 2022, at 20:00, a gala-concert of friendship between Luxembourg and Portugal is being co-organised by the Embassy, the Cultural Centre and the Luxembourg Conservatoire. Tickets are free of charge and can be booked online on the Conservatoire de la Ville de Luxembourg website (http://www.conservatoire.lu/) or through Luxembourg ticket via tel.: 470 89 51.