Brasilia, 28 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs held Wednesday the first preparatory meeting for the 4th Conference of Heads of State and of Government of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP), which will be held in Brasilia in July. The conference will be attended by the leaders of the organization's 7 member nations. East Timor will be present at the summit for the first time, represented by the president who will be elected in April. During the event, the Asian country is expected to formally join the CPLP.

Wednesday's meeting was attended by the staff of several ministries, since bilateral and multilateral cooperation efforts are already underway between the nations that speak Portuguese. It also served to prepare for Brazil's participation in the 4th Conference, which will require the involvement of various sectors of the Brazilian government to identify proposals and projects capable of expanding cooperation and furthering dialogue between CPLP member nations.

Other preparatory meetings should be held to give continuity to the discussions on technical cooperation and to initiate the debate of issues on the CPLP's political and diplomatic agenda, as well as of the Brazilian policy for the dissemination of the Portuguese language overseas. (MW)