The Luso-Arab Cooperation Institute was established in 1985, as a result of the will expressed by a group of Portuguese individuals issued from academies, politics and business.
When the Institute was founded, ILAC’s members manifested their engagement with the opening of new ways for dialogue, cooperation and friendship between the Portuguese people and the Arab world.
Throughout its more than two decades of existence, ILAC has signed important agreements with Portuguese and Arab universities, has established partnerships with Arab civil society organizations, organized conferences, exhibitions and official missions to Arab countries.
ILAC’s activity is transversal to all areas of public life where the Portuguese-Arab cooperation assumes relevance. The Institute has created commissions of experts in the fields of economy, culture, science and new technologies, social affairs, tourism, social communication and telecommunications. The commissions bring together Portuguese and Arab experts, and have proved to be a sustainable instrument for the promotion of dialogue and sectorial cooperation.
The Institute is equally present in the main forum for research and debate, in fields such as intercultural dialogue, education, global security, Arab and Islamic studies.
Bearing in mind the strengthening of the relations between both peoples, ILAC has rendered public homage to Portuguese and Arab heads of State and leaders, including politicians, academics, businessmen and cultural agents, consecrating their efforts on behalf of the Portuguese-Arab relations.
The Institute has created delegations in the majority of the Arab countries with which Portugal maintains diplomatic relations. These delegations promote and dignify the name of Portugal and its people, in their respective countries.
ILAC also holds privileged relations with non-Arab, Muslim countries, and with countries with considerable Muslim minorities. In particular, the Institute has good relations with several Portuguese Language Countries, such as Mozambique, Angola, Guinea-Bissau and East Timor. This way, ILAC plays a hinge role between the Arab world and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries.
The web page that we are proud to present, serves two main purposes: on one hand, it seeks to make public the activities promoted by ILAC and its partners, in Portugal and elsewhere; on the other hand, it aims at inscribing the Institute in the technological age, an age that opens new and innovating challenges to the Portuguese-Arab cooperation.
Manuel Pechirra
President