PORTUGUESE PRESIDENT Cavaco Silva said the Portuguese economy needed to diversify its markets abroad and not just concentrate on the European Union in order to be less vulnerable to international financial crises.
The President made his comments at the ancient city of Petra in Petra Archaeological Park in Jordan, where he and his wife Maria Cavaco Silva are making an official state visit.
First visit
Cavaco Silva arrived in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on Sunday in what was the first ever visit to Jordan by a Portuguese head of state.
He was received by King Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein and Queen Rania at the Royal Palace of Basman in the Jordanian capital of Amman.
Following the signing of various trade and cooperation accords, the party visited the John the Baptist Spring in the River Jordan where it is said Jesus was baptised. The President also visited several Christian churches on the site.
The President then laid a wreath of flowers at the Royal Cemetery before meeting Prime Minister Nader Al-Dhahabi.
Before visiting Jordan, the President had been in Lebanon where he expressed concern at the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo saying that “no one likes unilateral declarations.”
Earlier his official jet had been forced to make an emergency landing in Nicosia, Cyprus after the Falcon 50 had technical problems in its fuel injection system.
In Petra, which is 2,000 years old, Cavaco Silva expressed his admiration for the monument, noting that it deserved to be named a New Wonder of the World.
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