5TH MEETING OF GAE ATTENTIVE IN THE EMIGRANT COMMUNITIES

The 5th GAE Meeting was attended by three Secretaries of State who evaluated the reality of the country and the objectives of approaching the Portuguese emigrant communities.

Last Monday, June 3, it was held the 5th Meeting of the Emigrant Support Offices (GAE), at Europarque. In the session were several entities of the GAE and municipal authorities, such as the Mayor of Santa Maria da Feira, Emídio Sousa; the Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities, José Luís Carneiro; the Secretary of State for Employment, Miguel Cabrita; the Secretary of State for Fiscal Affairs, António Mendonça Mendes, among other entities involved in the defined programming.

As an introductory note to the event, the President of the Municipality of Santa Maria da Feira, Emídio Sousa, said that this Meeting "is very pleasant for us because this topic is an ever-present issue for the city". "This work and this reflection that GAE organize throughout the country is urgent and the fact that we have made available for this meeting is connected to the support given to the Emigrant Office", reason why the Mayor decided to "leave a word of deep appreciation to the employees and collaborators of the City Hall in GAE”. The Mayor of Santa Maria da Feira also mentioned that the Municipality "is opened to the world" and "whenever we travel, we find a person from Santa Maria da Feira anywhere in the world". "Our goal [of the City Hall] was also in the way that they never lose this connection to our land" and that, for this reason, they have also organized, "for many years", exchange experiences in different areas such as culture, education "and more recently in the area of economy". In a final approach to his speech, the Mayor, Emídio Sousa, highlighted some notable characteristics of Santa Maria da Feira - such as the reference to the "strong, diversified, dynamic and highly exporting business and industrial business tissue" and "unemployment rate below 5%”. He also evaluated that "the greatest constraint we face today is the difficulty of housing in the large urban centers". "A situation that, in the short term, will be solved; we have encouraged investors to build homes and I think that in the coming months we will have a much better response," he said.

José Luís Carneiro, Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities, presented the agenda of this 5th edition, in which he addressed, generally, some themes such as the Consular Network, the Return Plan, the Tax Guide for Portuguese Communities and the GAE as support to Communities and Investment. Also as an explanatory note, the GAE's have cooperation agreements between the General Directorate of Consular Affairs and Portuguese Communities, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Municipalities. Furthermore, the GAE’s have the following defined objectives: "inform citizens of their rights in the host countries, support them in their return and reintegration into Portugal and contribute to problem solving", in order to facilitate contact and articulation with others services of the Portuguese Public Administration.

In the 5th Meeting of the GAE’s, the Secretary of State for Employment intervened with the presentation of "Return Program" which involved a set of measures on tax issues, vocational training, employment and investment, in order to create adequate conditions and "more facilitating" for the return of emigrant citizens to Portugal. The program Return also intends to contribute to the rejuvenation of the population, the growth of companies and the generation of "more jobs". "Our first message has to be towards those who are also ours, we must first address those who left the country, who are Portuguese, who are Portuguese descendants, who are familiar with the language, who have family and emotional ties with the country". The launch of the "Return Plan is part of a broader agenda" and "it’s the right time, because Portugal is a cycle of growth and confidence”, said Miguel Cabrita, Secretary of State for Employment.

Finally, the Secretary of State for Fiscal Affairs, António Mendonça Mendes, presented the "Tax Guide for Portuguese Communities", whose purpose is to clarify the most common doubts of Portuguese citizens residing abroad in what concerns tax law.

At the 5th Meeting of the GAE, also remarkable were the interventions of Jorge Oliveira, Directorate of Regional Service of the Directorate General of Consular Affairs and Portuguese Communities, as well as the intervention of Luísa Pais Lowe, from the Diaspora Investor Support Office.