Lisbon, March 25, 2025 (Lusa) — The government of Guinea-Bissau signed a cooperation agreement with Imamat Ismaili on Tuesday to develop bilateral relations and projects to improve health, education, and agriculture.

"We hope that health, education and agriculture can benefit from the experience and what they have already done in other countries," Guinea-Bissau's foreign minister told Lusa at the end of the protocol signing ceremony, which took place today in Lisbon at the Imamat Ismaili's world headquarters.

For Carlos Pinto Pereira, the agreement was initialled "with a serious entity, capable of carrying out the projects it undertakes" and for this reason Guinea-Bissau hopes to "benefit from the experience and what they have already done in other countries", such as Mozambique, Timor-Leste and Sao Tome and Principe, countries that already benefit from development cooperation from this entity.

Imamat Ismaili is a supranational organisation that represents the succession of Imams since the time of the Prophet Mohammed. It has agreements with several countries, including Portugal, where its world headquarters are based.

"While it's true that countries need major infrastructure projects, it's no less true that these types of interventions, which address real problems faced by the population, are the areas that interest us, and what we hope from this cooperation is that Guinea-Bissau's institutions can benefit from some support from Imamat Ismaili to strengthen their capacity to intervene in the areas assigned to them," added the head of Guinea-Bissau's diplomacy.

The protocol that was signed today formalises a structure for consultations on matters of mutual interest, reinforcing the legal recognition of Imamat Ismaili and its capacity to get involved in international affairs, reads a statement from this entity, which also states that "the agreement also aims to develop bilateral relations and collaboration in areas such as diplomacy, social development, economic growth and cultural exchange".

 For Imamat Ismaili's diplomatic representative, Nazim Ahmad, this agreement marks "the beginning of cooperation", so there is "no defined project yet". The priority areas of support will be defined after the delegation's visit to Guinea-Bissau, probably in June.

MBA/ADB // ADB.

Lusa