Both visiting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho attended the closing ceremony of the 8th Portugal-Venezuela Bilateral Cooperation Forum which began on May 20.

　　Portuguese Prime Minister Passos Coelho said in a speech at the ceremony that Venezuela is one of the most important exporting market for his country in South America and Portugal has attached great importance to the cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, education and culture with Venezuela.

　　Coelho hoped the entrepreneurs of the two countries will make full use of the forum as an exchange platform to expand bilateral cooperation and further enhance the exchange between the two countries and development in agriculture, economy and trade.

　　According to a report by Portugal's Publico newspaper, the bilateral cooperation agreements, valued more than 800 million euro, cover such fields as the production and exporting of agricultural produce, telecommunication engineering, science and technology, education and civil construction.

　　As part of his visit to Europe in his capacity as a newly elected president of Venezuela, Maduro was on a one-day official visit to Portugal, the first since he assumed the presidency in April this year. During his stay in Portugal, Maduro met with his Portuguese counterpart Anibal Cavaco Silva and Prime Minister Passos Coelho separately.