The financial support to be provided by the government of Luxembourg for its Indicative Cooperation Program with Cape Verde for the 2011-2015 period will total 60 million euros.

According to Thierry Lippert, the representative of the Luxembourg Cooperation Agency in Praia, the € 15 million increase in the financial aid package to Cape Verde is, first and foremost, “recognition of the good work the government has done toward the development of the country.”

In second place, adds Lippert, the € 60 million, which represents a 33% increase in the financial aid given to Cape Verde by the Grand Duchy, “is a signal we’re sending to Cape Verde’s other partners to continue to support the archipelago.” The reason is simple, says Lippert: “you can’t turn off the motor of an airplane that’s already flying.”

The funds from this third Indicative Cooperation Program will be invested in three main areas, based on agreements reached in negotiations between Cape Verde and Luxembourg: professional training, job creation and health/school cafeteria programs, in addition to various other smaller-scale, unspecified projects.

The signing of the document making the 2011-2015 Indicative Cooperation Program official is expected to take place on July 3 or 4 by Luxembourg’s Minister of Cooperation, Marie José Jacobs, and Cape Verde’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Brito.