ISLAMABAD (Sapeher Times) Ambassador of Portugal, Mr Paulo Miguel Guedes Domingues and his spouse on Tuesday hosted a grand reception in Islamabad to celebrate the National Day of the Portuguese Republic, bringing together diplomats, parliamentarians, government officials, business leaders, students and admirers of Portuguese football icon Cristiano Ronaldo amid the excitement of the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2026.
\nFederal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Chaudhry Salik Hussain attended the event as the Chief Guest. Among the distinguished guests included Federal Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Syed Imran Ahmed Shah, Governor Sindh, Syed Nehal Hashmi, Minister for Investment Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh, Minister of State for Law & Justice Barrister Aqeel Malik, MNA Zain Qureshi, former Minister Fawad Chaudhry, Chairman of the Nazriya Pakistan Council (NPC) Mian Muhammad Javed, senior diplomats, members of the business community and representatives of civil society.
\nSpeaking on the occasion, Chaudhry Salik Hussain conveyed warm greetings and congratulations to the people and government of Portugal on behalf of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the federal cabinet and the people of Pakistan.
\nHe described Pakistan\u2019s relations with Portugal as highly significant and emphasized the vast potential for expanding bilateral cooperation.
\nRecalling his experience as Minister for the Board of Investment, Salik Hussain said he had interacted with investors and business leaders from around the world and found Portuguese entrepreneurs exceptionally focused and result-oriented. He noted that Pakistan and Portugal enjoy broad opportunities for collaboration in trade, investment, textiles, agriculture, renewable energy and information technology.
\nThe minister also praised the Pakistani diaspora in Portugal, describing it as a strong bridge connecting the peoples of both countries. He said the growing community of Pakistanis in Portugal continues to contribute positively to Portuguese society while strengthening bilateral ties through cultural and economic engagement.
\nIn his welcome address, Ambassador Miguel Guedes Domingues welcomed guests and highlighted the enduring friendship between the two nations. He expressed gratitude for the warm hospitality he and his wife Carla had received since arriving in Pakistan a few months ago.
\n\u201cHaving served in different parts of the world, I can honestly say that I cannot imagine a better diplomatic posting at this time,\u201d the ambassador remarked, humorously suggesting that Islamabad should perhaps be called \u201cIslamabest\u201d because of the extraordinary warmth shown by its people.
\nThe ambassador said the celebration marked not only Portugal\u2019s National Day but also the Day of Camoes and Portuguese Communities, honoring Portugal\u2019s history, culture, language and values. He emphasized that Portugal believes in building bridges rather than walls and said this philosophy continues to guide its engagement with the international community.
\nHighlighting the 76th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Portugal and Pakistan, Ambassador Domingues noted that political dialogue, economic cooperation, academic exchanges and people-to-people contacts between the two countries are expanding steadily. He expressed confidence that the best chapters of Portugal-Pakistan relations are still ahead.
\nThe ambassador revealed that approximately 50,000 Pakistanis lived in Portugal and played a valuable role in Portuguese society. He also pointed to upcoming bilateral political consultations in Islamabad and a planned visit by Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel later this year as evidence of the growing momentum in bilateral relations.
\nReferring to Portugal\u2019s recent election to the United Nations Security Council for the 2027-2028 term, Ambassador Domingues thanked Pakistan for supporting Portugal\u2019s candidature and reaffirmed Lisbon\u2019s commitment to peace, dialogue and multilateral cooperation.
\nThe ambassador also appreciated Pakistan\u2019s constructive role in promoting dialogue and peaceful solutions to international challenges, saying that countries which help create channels of communication make an important contribution to global peace and stability.
\nIn a lighter moment, he acknowledged the presence of many football enthusiasts hoping to meet Cristiano Ronaldo. \u201cI regret to inform you that the Cristiano Ronaldo attending tonight\u2019s reception is made of cardboard,\u201d he joked, drawing laughter from the audience. \u201cBut I can assure you that the friendship between Portugal and Pakistan is entirely real.\u201d The event concluded with guests enjoying traditional Portuguese cuisine, including bacalhau, piri-piri chicken and the famous Pastel de Nata, while celebrating the growing friendship, trust and cooperation between Portugal and Pakistan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD (Sapeher Times) Ambassador of Portugal, Mr Paulo Miguel Guedes Domingues and his spouse on Tuesday hosted a grand reception in Islamabad to celebrate the National Day of the Portuguese Republic, bringing together diplomats, parliamentarians, government officials, business leaders, students and admirers of Portuguese football icon Cristiano Ronaldo amid the excitement of the ongoing FIFA […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":340604,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-340632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-63","category-pakistan-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sapeher.dailysapehertimes.com.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sapeher.dailysapehertimes.com.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sapeher.dailysapehertimes.com.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sapeher.dailysapehertimes.com.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sapeher.dailysapehertimes.com.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=340632"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sapeher.dailysapehertimes.com.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":340633,"href":"https:\/\/sapeher.dailysapehertimes.com.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340632\/revisions\/340633"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sapeher.dailysapehertimes.com.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/340604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sapeher.dailysapehertimes.com.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=340632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sapeher.dailysapehertimes.com.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=340632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sapeher.dailysapehertimes.com.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=340632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}