The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints welcomed Ambassador Francisco António Duarte Lopes of Portugal to Temple Square Wednesday, part of a trip taken at the invitation of World Trade Center Utah and its partners, the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity and the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce.
A career diplomat with more than three decades of public service, Lopes previously served as Permanent Representative of Portugal to the United Nations and held key leadership positions at Portugal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As an ambassador, he has advanced initiatives on peace, sustainable development and human rights, and has been a champion of Portugal’s multilateral diplomacy — which seeks to bring multiple countries together to tackle a particular problem.
The first Portuguese citizen to become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ was baptized in 1967, with approximately 48,000 Latter-day Saints now living in Portugal. Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles visited Portugal (the land of his ancestry) in 2024, where he said, “Our message is a message of love ... to invite everyone to experience God’s love and to act in His name by sharing love and care with those in need.”
Meetings of the Portuguese delegation to Utah included Honorary Consul representing Portugal in Utah, Luis Camara Manoel, Pedro Leao, the director of AICEP, which is the Portuguese Agency for Trade and Investment, and Consul General Filipe Ramalheira.
Jonathan Freedman, president and CEO of World Trade Center Utah, said that ambassadors come to Utah “with an interest to grow diplomatic subnational ties between Utah and their nation, and to foster economic development opportunities with Utah companies.”
He said the Portuguese delegation had a specific interest in identifying economic opportunities in the field of sustainable energy, cancer research, biotech and semiconductor chips — consequently visiting Huntsman Cancer Institute and BioHive.
A day earlier, the Deputy Minister of Digital Technologies of Uzbekistan, Rustam Karimjonov, also arrived in the state, hosted by World Trade Center Utah in partnership with the Stirling Foundation.
The World Trade Center Utah has a mission of accelerating the growth of Utah companies through its global network, program and services — in a way that can facilitate exports. When ambassadors are here, the WTC hosts roundtable discussions with business leaders in the state who have an interest in those countries.
On Thursday, the First Presidency also met with Sonia Guzmán, the Dominican Republic’s Ambassador to the United States. The ambassador was also brought to Utah by the World Trade Center Utah and its partners, the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity and the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce.
Guzmán has had an extensive career in public service and diplomacy, serving in this particular position since November 2020, when she became the first woman to represent her country in this capacity.
The Dominican Republic is home to nearly 150,000 Latter-day Saints, where the church has had a presence for 47 years. President Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles visited the country in November 2024, where he encouraged people, “Live the gospel, see it through, and broken things will be mended through the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.”