The Minister for Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda, David Mascort i Subiranas, is visiting Portugal to participate in the Atlant & Med - Blue Economy Forum, organised by the Catalan Government Delegation to Portugal and the Portuguese Secretariat of State for the Sea.

The Minister is accompanied by the Catalan Government Delegate to Portugal, Rui Reis, the Director General of Maritime Policy and Sustainable Fisheries of the Government, Sergi Tudela, and the Director of the Catalan Energy Institute, Marta Morera. The forum is being attended by the Secretary of State for the Sea, José Maria Costa. "This is a great opportunity to reinforce the strong relations that exist between the two governments on blue economy issues thanks to the good relationship we have developed from the beginning with the State Secretariat for the Sea," remarked Rui Reis, Government Delegate to Portugal.

The Minister for Climate Action opened the forum which addressed issues such as the wind power strategies of both regions and potential cooperation, shared port projects in Portugal and Catalonia linked to the blue economy, with special reference to the ports of Lisbon and Barcelona, and in which discussions were held on methods of environmental data collection currently being developed by Portuguese and Catalan scientific bodies, in order to establish scientific cooperation in the marine environment.

In his speech, Mascort stated that "we share immense maritime history and outlook with Portugal, and we also share the same vision on the importance of developing an innovative, cutting-edge, sustainable, inclusive and participatory maritime policy".

Relations between the Governments of Catalonia and Portugal

The Government Delegation to Portugal was responsible for establishing the contacts that enabled this joint mission between the two executives to take place. This relationship dates back to the Oceans Conference in Lisbon in June 2022, during which Portugal was invited to participate as a guest country in the Maritime Hub Conference in November 2022 in Barcelona. The Portuguese Secretary of State for the Sea spoke at the event organised by the Directorate General for Maritime Policy and Sustainable Fisheries and BlueNetCat - Maritime Network of Catalonia. That event was the prelude to the Blue Economy Forum now taking place in Lisbon.