A mission from the Galician Cooperation and Solidarity Fund (from Spain’s autonomous Galicia region) will also arrive in Praia today for a four-day visit on invitation from the National Association of Cape Verdean Municipalities.

The Dutch mission had previously visited Porto Novo earlier this year and committed itself to assisting the local municipal authorities with fire-fighting equipment.

The delegation, which will spend all of this week in Porto Novo, will formally donate a fire engine to the municipality, as well as promote a training session for the local volunteer fire department.

Porto Novo also has sister-city programs with the Portuguese municipalities of Angra do Heroísmo, Estarreja and Tavira, the Italian municipalities of Cattolica, Piemonte and Lombardia, and with Fontaine l’Eveque in Belgium. Porto Novo authorities are also negotiating a similar accord with Etelbruk, in Luxembourg.

Also today, the Galician Cooperation and Development Fund will begin a four-day official visit to Cape Verde, on the invitation of the National Association of Cape Verdean municipalities.

The delegation will meet with a number of government entities in order to present its Plan of Action for the Strengthening of Local Administration in Cape Verde.