Consul General of Portugal in New York recruits two employees to improve service and communication – Notícias de Coimbra
The new consul general of Portugal in New York, Luisa Pais Lowe, Luisa Pais Lowe, Luisa à Lusa who recruited two resources and strategies against the reinforcement that announced today restrictions for service, communication and proximity that outlined reinforced functions.
Considered strategic, the Consulate General in New York has a mandatory mandate not to include the provision of consular services, but also to promote the country only in the areas of business and business, culture and the Portuguese language, in a work carried out in close connection with the Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade of Portugal (AICEP), Turismo de Portugal and Instituto Camões.
When she arrived in New York on March 29, Luisa Pais took over the duties of conscientious, for her service and communication problem solving was confirmed in general, which the consulate has updated.
Two and a half months later, the diplomat has been working on three accessories: “service, communication and proximity”.
“Identify some consular services that can be streamlined, that can be done ‘online’ such as, for example, registering the birth of a baby up to 01 year old or asking for the baby’s first Citizen Card. This already prevents a family with a small baby from traveling to the consulate, which is very important,” she said.
“The thing I did right away was let people who want me make an appointment when they get their citizenship card or passport. They are very quick consular acts (…) and that makes a difference right away, because there is no reason to have an appointment for something that takes five or ten”, added the diplomat.
Located in the heart of Manhattan, the Consulate General of Portugal had been short of manpower, with frequent complaints among the Portuguese community about the lack of answering the phones at reception.
In this sense, the new one can integrate with two new recruitments – a July of the new employees took office in 01 will enter in the beginning of In this sense – that the majority of may not integrate an “extremely close and certain” team, guaranteed.
“It is obvious that we would need a telephone exchange and several people to respond to the demand, but it is an important step”, he evaluated.
Added to this is the issue of business, targets for critical consular officials in the world, with Minister João Gomes Cravinho promising to respond to the “recent insufficient salary in Portuguese consulates in the world, including the promised Foreign Affairs Minister” in the United States.
As for the communication pillar, Luísa has tried to get as many people as possible the information that is necessary so that the community can be well served.
In this sense, it developed a strategy to revitalize the Consulate General’s Facebook page, a social network that it considered as having the most impact on the demographic in question.
Having in charge a vast consular area covering the entire state of Connecticut and other intense regions of the United States, the diplomat has had an agenda in these first months of functions, having sought to meet with the various communities and local associations.
“We have Portuguese from all groups, from all socioeconomic strata and professional areas here. It’s fascinating and it’s a magnificent community, I’m more and more impressed. I’m meeting amazing people and establishing good networks. Associations are a very important pillar of our community, as are Portuguese schools and churches. There’s a whole community structure that you need, you need to invest in,” she said.
“I think the Consulate is here to serve, but we want to decentralize these services. In the sense, we make calls while remaining consular in Connecticut and I hope that with an extended team, we will also expand the scope of this activity”, he added, in an interview with Lusa.
The consul general also indicated that the “Portuguese community in the United States has levels of economic wealth and qualifications above the average of Americans”.
“It shows well what we are and what we are going to do”, he said what we are.
Another component that the diplomat intends to work on in the near future is politics, considering that it is necessary to guarantee a good relationship with the New York authorities.
To that end, Luisa Pais Lowe also prioritizes meetings with figures from the New York government, so that they “perceive the importance of the Portuguese and Portuguese-descendant community”, “that they support when necessary”, but rather than “appreciation”.
This is the third time that the new consul general has lived and worked in the United States of America.
In her vast curriculum, Luísa Pais Lowe stands out that she has already served in the Permanent Mission of Portugal to the United Nations, in Nova, during the first Presidency of Portugal, in 1992.
2009 and 23, she was a counselor at the embassy of Portugal Washington and now returns to the area of work with the Portuguese community among the Portuguese political community in New York.