The municipalities of Famalicão and Touba Toul, in Senegal, signed a cooperation protocol on Wednesday, with the aim of strengthening mutual relations of cooperation, sharing, support and promotion of initiatives and projects in the fields of Economy, Health, Education, Environment and Sustainable Development.
The Municipality of Touba Toul is located about an hour from the capital of Senegal, Dakar, and is a central city also close to the seaport and about 30 minutes from the country's main airport, “in a privileged location,” said the mayor, Ameth Dieye. The municipality has around 70,000 inhabitants, with a mainly young population (60% of the population is under 20) and the working population (aged between 20 and 59) accounting for more than 45% of its inhabitants.
The Senegalese mayor pointed out that although the main economic activities are concentrated in agriculture, commerce and transport, the Municipality of Touba Toul's strategy is to invest in the construction and public works sector, “creating municipal policies with incentives and attractiveness for the establishment of new companies that contribute to the economic development of the territory and the creation of new jobs to attract young people”.
Vila Nova de Famalicão, due to its business dynamics and export vocation, was the reason why Touba Toul approached the municipality to establish this protocol.
“We are a city with countless connections to the world, through our companies, but also through the protocols and twinning arrangements we have set up, which are always based on the principle of collaboration, of getting closer and of being facilitating agents in promoting links with our economic fabric,” said the Mayor of Famalicão, Mário Passos.
In the areas of cooperation, the economy, namely construction and public works, is currently a growing sector in the country “and one that we will continue to leverage”, said Ameth Dieye, noting that in Famalicão, health and education and training were also topics he sought to learn more about, namely the management model in these areas, the model for promoting vocational education and the education and training network in the municipality.
Also accompanying the mayor of Touba Toul were the First Secretary of the Senegalese Embassy in Portugal, Ibrahim Saware, and the representative of the Senegalese Immigrants Association, Saidatina Dias.
