“Portuguese communities allow Portugal to assert itself in the world”
Berta Nunes, a natural district of Aveiro, was invited to join the António Costa Government when she assumed the role of mayor of Alfândega da Fé, municipality where she began working in 1985 as a doctor at the health centre. It has made our district “home” since then.
The former mayor, who at the time was serving her third and final term, took over as the secretary of State for the Portuguese Communities. With a degree in Medicine and Surgery from the Faculty of Medicine of Porto, having given, at the time of completion of her studies, the Engenheiro António de Almeida award, for being the best classified nationally, in 1980, in medicine, Berta Nunes looks for these two years with peace of mind. “The balance is quite positive, regardless of the constraints caused by the pandemic,” he said. In other words, “despite the restrictions on mobility, every opportunity to be close to the communities was taken advantage of”. “We have more than five million Portuguese and Portuguese descendants in Portugal and that means a job that requires a lot of travel, better understanding the problems and expectations of these people”, explained Berta Nunes, who managed to travel to countries where they are established as the largest communities. . He was, outside Europe, in Canada, the United States, Brazil, South Africa and Angola. In terms of Europe itself, he visited France and Luxembourg, more than once, in the United Kingdom, Germany and Switzerland.
Two years of policy continuity and improvement
The work in Berta Nunes’ secretariat went, by and large, on continuing measures that were already on the ground, on realizing the problems and solving them, improving what already existed.
One of the “most important policies” was an “improvement of consular functioning”. This “great network” of consular posts, of which there are currently 117, suffered from the pandemic. As in Portugal, around the world, public services operated with many constraints and consulates did not escape, having started to delay the renewal of documents. Thus, he imposed himself to roll up like manga. “We had to reinforce the number of human resources. As a matter of fact, since 2016, as the two governments of the Socialist Party, we managed to have more than 140 people working in the consulates”, linking the government official on the response to the “pressure” that knocked on these entities’ doors.
The pandemic drove us away physically and, to work or even resolve issues, the internet was, in many cases, the best solution. This was how the New Consular Model was developed, which had already been announced in September 2019 and which prevented the simplification and dematerialization of consular acts and procedures, facilitation of visa processing and, for example, a consolidation of instruments to support situations of emergency.
This measure presupposes consular service centers and it is here that a secretary of the State focuses, saying that “it is the most important”, not least because with this it is creating and creating jobs in Portugal. At this moment, ten countries are already being supported with these call centers, and when she took office, Berta Nunes guaranteed that the new ones that appeared were decentralized from Lisbon. That is how, at the moment, one of them, the one that works for Belgium, Luxembourg and, soon, for France, is based in Alfândega da Fé. It should be noted that 15 people are being recruited.
In addition to these measures, Berta Nunes also highlighted another service to “make life easier for emigrants and Portuguese descendants”. An online renewal of the Citizen’s Card was tested in Portugal and then extended abroad. “Any citizen over 25 years old who needs to renew their card can do so through the internet”, he clarified, noting that another of the measures taken, in this context, made it possible for the document to be delivered at home, abroad.
Birth Registration can also be requested through a simple computer. This measure has been tested in France and the United Kingdom and is now being extended to the whole of Europe, with the possibility of being extended to other countries for it. “A Portuguese couple, who have a child, would have to go to the consulate to register and apply for their first Citizen’s Card, often covering great distances. This is no longer necessary”, stressed the former president of Alfândega.
To Jornal Nordeste, Berta Nunes also spoke about the National Program to Support Investment in the Diaspora, approved in July last year, which is aimed at Portuguese emigrants and Portuguese descendants who want to invest in Portugal and also at national companies that intend to export or abroad. their business through the diaspora. Realizing that our communities “has always played a very positive role in the development of our country”, he clarified that this program has come to help those who want to invest and often do not know how to do it or what opportunities to seize. Developed in partnership with some city councils, at the moment “several stages completed”. In other words, in many chambers there were already offices to support emigrants, but now, in some of them, there is another office that is aimed at providing support to investors.
Aiming to “increase investment in Portugal, particularly in the interior”, this program is also supervised by the Ministry of Territorial Cohesion, through the Secretary of State for the Valorization of the Interior, headed by Brigantine Isabel Ferreira.
Partnerships and work between secretaries of State are also seen to enrich the projects and measures designed. Thus, Berta Nunes also supported and plans to develop the Regressar Program, which promotes the return of emigrants or Portuguese descendants. Berta Nunes underlined that “a lot of work has been done, however there has to be continuity”.
“Work well done guarantees interesting challenges”
The government official, who believes that “our communities abroad have a great potential”, as they are even the main markets that send tourists to Portugal, says she has no project in mind. “For now, the Portuguese have to choose. I hope PS wins, because they have done a good job in favor of Portugal and its development. After this stage, the Prime Minister will choose the Ministries and Ministries of the Secretaries of State. Therefore, I cannot say that I have any expectations”, concluded Berta Nunes, who said that she believes that” what is needed is to do the job well done because this is the best condition for us to continue to face interesting challenges in the future”.