Marcelo: the President lands in Switzerland for an official visit – the guardian

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa starts tomorrow an official visit of two days to Switzerland. But, already this afternoon, has an informal meeting with Portuguese emigrants in Geneva, where they live almost half of the 300 thousand Portuguese living in Switzerland.

The journalist João Francisco Guerreiro gives information about the official program of the President of the Republic in Switzerland

On Monday, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa is received by the president of the Swiss confederation, Johann Schneider-Ammann, a time in which the country intends to intensify relations with Lisbon.

“The cooperation on bilateral issues, in particular in the areas of training and research”, the pair of the “economic affairs, and international” are the main focus of the meetings officials in Geneva and in Bern.

The “relationship with Europe” is another of the themes featured on the agenda of the official contacts of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa with the federal government.

The Portuguese President is received on Monday by the president of the Swiss Confederation, Johann Schneider-Ammann, in Geneva, with a visit to two technology companies that combine research and education.

Marcelo follows after the trip to Bern and, as mandated by the protocol, will be received with military honors. Will meet with members of the swiss parliament and will pass the afternoon in official meetings to deal with the topics of the agenda.

On Tuesday, the president will visit a company taken as an example of what the swiss refer to as “vocational training”.

Seven in every ten students in Switzerland opt for this way of teaching, which enables them to, from the age of 15 years, contact with the profession, through classes, practice almost daily, at the workplace itself and with theory in the classroom one or two times per week.

it Is one of the highlights of the official visit of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who, before returning to Lisbon, still passes by the museum Franz Gertsch, the swiss artist noted in painting hyper-realistic.

Already this afternoon, the President, accompanied by minister of Foreign Affairs, Augusto Santos Silva, and the secretary of the secretary of State for Communities, José Luís Carneiro, meet with Portuguese emigrants in Geneva.