The UAE is starting to become a popular place among Portuguese people who want to live and work in the Emirates, the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, said in an exclusive interview with Khaleej Times.

Sousa was on a visit to the Esplanade Luxury Hotel in Zagreb, Croatia, and talked to Khaleej Times on Wednesday about his country's relationship with the UAE.

He insisted that the UAE and Portugal has a "very good relationship" and there has been a constant exchange of knowledge in different sectors.

"We have been developing very good relationships in the past decade, and gradually, these ties have increased - culturally, economically and politically and that's very useful for both countries," he said.

"Little by little, I know some Portuguese who want to live there (in the UAE) and have their business activity there. Let's not forget that we are almost neighbours."

Sousa said that Portugal today is witnessing signs of "economic cooperation" now more than ever and even sees room for growth, stating that Emirates Airline could increase the direct number of flights to Portugal.
He said the country also sees UAE cooperation in other sectors. "We have academic cooperation, between universities. There is also cooperation on renewable energies, infrastructure, communication, and tourism. We must deepen our mutual knowledge," he said.

Sousa also spoke about the important role the Arab culture and language plays in Portugal. He insisted that Portugal's foreign policy's "priority" is the Arab world.
"We cannot forget that the Arab world is the priority of Portugal foreign policy because it has a long lasting experience of Arab experience," he said.

"When we got independent in the 13th century, at that the time, there was a tradition of long Arab presence in the Arabian Peninsula and Portugal. Many of our Portugal words are Arab-influenced words. We have cultural influences. We have influences in music, science, and technology.

"When we stopped and tried to discover new continents, we used some of the Arab knowledge at that time, so that's why we're not just speaking about today's relationship, we're talking about a long relationship of mutual knowledge."
Sousa was in Croatia for two days. Emirates Airline is launching a direct flight to the country's capital city of Zagreb starting June 1.

"Emirates has had a commercial presence in Croatia since 2003, so to launch full operations is a natural progression," Emirates' executive Vice President and chief commercial officer, Thierry Antinori, said.

"Emirates is pleased to have this opportunity to add such a picturesque destination to our global route network. We look forward to working with our partners and stakeholders in Croatia to provide our world-renowned service to our customers on our young, modern fleet of aircraft. We are also committed to our contribution to growing the trade and tourism flow between Croatia and Dubai, as well as encouraging incoming tourism from the Middle East and Asia Pacific, where Emirates operates 45 destinations."

Source: Khaleej Times