{"id":4322,"date":"2022-12-16T22:28:29","date_gmt":"2022-12-16T22:28:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tonga-gov.pt\/?p=4322"},"modified":"2026-04-11T15:57:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T15:57:06","slug":"tongan-prime-minister-officially-visits-portugal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tonga-gov.pt\/en\/tongan-prime-minister-officially-visits-portugal\/","title":{"rendered":"Tongan Prime Minister Hon Siaosi ‘Ofakivahafolau Sovaleni officially visits Lisbon, Portugal"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\" Tonga values it growing relationship with Portugal. In June and July 2022 the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Tonga, the Hon Siaosi \u2018Ofakivahafolau Sovaleni, HE Mr Joao Gomes Cravinho, paid an Official Visit to Portugal on the occasion of the hosting in Lisbon of the United Nation\u2019s Oceans Conference.<\/p>\n

The Prime Minister and delegation was received at the VIP Terminal of Lisbon Airport by representatives of the State Protocol of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and by Mr Anthony Bailey, Hon Consul General of His Majesty The King of Tonga in\u00a0Portugal.<\/p>\n

During the visit the Tongan Prime Minister held discussions with\u00a0the highest authorities of the Portuguese state. \u00a0On 26 June 2022 His Excellency Professor Marcelo Ribeiro de Sousa, President of the Portuguese Republic,\u00a0hosted a state dinner at the Cascais Citadel Palace in Cascais.\u00a0\u00a0Prime Minister Siaosi \u2018Ofakivahafolau Sovaleni\u00a0also met during his visit with the Prime Minister of Portugal HE Dr Antonio Costa and the Portuguese Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Mr Joao Gomes Cravinho.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Prime Minister led the Tongan delegation and spoke at the\u00a0second United Nations Ocean Conference which took\u00a0place from 27 June to 1 July 2022, at the Lisbon Altice Arena Convention Center in the Portuguese\u00a0capital. This conference was co hosted by the governments of Portugal and Kenya and\u00a0successively\u00a0 incentivised action to propel much needed science-based innovative solutions aimed at starting a new chapter of global ocean action. The Conference also stressed that the world faces an \u201cOcean Emergency\u201d and that governments must turn the tide through focusing on issues related to the need to invest in sustainable ocean economies for food, renewable energy and livelihoods. The conference\u00a0also highlighted the need to protect the oceans and the people whose lives and livelihoods depend on them from the impacts of climate change.<\/p>\n

During the conference at which Tongan Prime Minister addressed delegates, he also met with the Secretary General of the United Nations, \u00a0His Excellency\u00a0Ant\u00f3nio Guterres and with other heads of state and government attending the Conference.<\/p>\n