HAMILTON, Bermuda, – The President of the Azores, an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atlantic Ocean, José Manuel Bolieiro, has arrived here on an official visit emphasising the need for stronger relationship between his country and Bermuda.
Bolieiro is due to participate in activities on Monday, marking the 175th anniversary of the Golden Rule, which brought the first Portuguese emigrants to Bermuda on November 4, 1849.
The visit is part of Premier David Burt’s initiative aimed at strengthening cultural ties and fostering opportunities for mutual learning and economic partnerships.
Last month, Bermuda hosted the visit of the Premier of Nevis, Mark Brantley, with Premier Burt saying his discussions with his Nevisian counterpart “highlighted our strong historical ties and the potential to expand our countries’ relationship for mutual benefit”.
Bolieiro said that in addition to celebrating the milestone, his visit presents an opportunity to discuss matters of importance with the Bermuda government of Premier David Burt
“It’s a very important event to celebrate. It’s important to embrace the event and let the Portuguese-Azorean community who live and work here in Bermuda see that we are proud of them.
“I also want to speak with the government about some issues that are very important to our community here,” he said, noting that one matter to be discussed is the recognition of Bermudian drivers’ licences in the Azores, a matter that has frustrated travellers.
The problem allegedly emanates from Bermuda’s non-compliance with an international treaty, the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic.
Bolieiro said marine conservation would also be a key topic of discussion, noting that the Azores recently created a marine protection area covering 30 per cent of its waters.
“Azores and Bermuda are more ocean than land, so we are very important for the planet because of our oceans. We want to protect the quality of our biodiversity, the blue economy, so we want to talk about that,” he said, adding “we will talk about our experience, our methodology and what we have made in legislation”.
Bolieiro said shared policies and ongoing collaboration would help to strengthen the relationship between Bermuda and the Azores.
“About 20 per cent of Bermuda’s resident population are Portuguese people, and 90 per cent of those are from the Azores, so it is very important for the policies and the politics of the Regional Government and the Government of Bermuda to co-operate more,” he said, adding “it is very important for our people”.
Bolieiro said that there was a range of potential synergies with Bermuda and the Azores, ranging from education to the environment to telecommunications, noting thar Good’s Nuvem transatlantic cable would connect to both.
Bolieiro said that in the area of climate change, island nations needed to lead by example in relation to sustainability as they were the areas that would be most significantly impacted.
“We need to show that we have policies to preserve our biodiversity and we want the economy to serve the people, not the people to serve the economy. We need to lead by example of preservation so that we can speak to the world and say, ‘we are here, we know what to do and we are doing it. Do it like we are doing.’
“Islands of the world need to be united to make a good example for the rest of the world,” Bolieiro said, adding he is proud of the success of Azoreans in Bermuda and wanted to see stronger connections to benefit both communities, suggesting that they consider the Azores as a possible investment opportunity.
“Here, we have people who are very successful, people who are entrepreneurs, and I would like them to also invest in the Azores, in tourism or anything,” he said. (CMC)
