State Visit continues

His Majesty King Harald began the day by attending the opening of the seminar "Portuguese – Norwegian Forum of Competence", which focused on renewable energy, sustainable fisheries and eGovernment. In his opening speech, the King emphasised that Portugal and Norway share rich traditions linking them to the sea; as a means of transportation and communication, as a source of trade, and as a basis for technological innovation.

Bacalhau

Fish is the most important commodity on the Norwegian-Portuguese market. Portuguese cuisine includes a great deal of seafood, and klippfish is a key ingredient of bacalhau, the Portuguese national dish. Approximately 55 per cent of the klippfish sold in Portugal, as well as a large proportion of the salmon products, come from Norway.

King Harald visited the Continente Supermarket together with the Portuguese Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Mr Jaime Silva and the Norwegian Minister of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs, Ms Helga Pedersen. The party was given a presentation on the market for Norwegian fish in Portugal.

Seminar on Architecture

Her Majesty the Queen spent the morning at the Faculty of Architecture at the Technical University of Lisbon, where she opened a seminar and exhibition on Norwegian architecture. The seminar included papers on the significance of Sverre Fehn for Norwegian architecture

Visit to Paços do Conselho (Lisbon City Hall)

The King and Queen subsequently visited Lisbon City Hall, where they were officially received by Mayor António Costa. The King conducted an inspection of the Honour Guard and was given the keys to the city. Afterward, the King and Queen met with members of the diplomatic corps and Norwegian community living in the area around Lisbon.

Book launch

Queen Sonja also gave the opening remarks at the seminar marking the launch of the translations into Portuguese of volume two of the Collected Works of Henrik Ibsen and Eg er Vinden (I am the wind) by playwright Jon Fosse. The Queen stressed the important role played by translators in world literature in her remarks, stating among other things:

“Language is the key to understanding between cultures across national borders. Literature is an important tool in this connection, and translators play a major role. To highlight the great importance of translation from one language to another – I would like to quote José Saramago: ‘An author can create national literature, but it is translators who create world literature.’ The Nobel Prize Laureate would know - he has worked as a translator himself.”

The event included reading and performance of selected scenes from Henrik Ibsen and Jon Fosse by Portuguese and Norwegian actors, as well as a musical interlude by Norwegian pianist Anne Kaasa.