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Economy

Lusophone entrepreneurs criticize Portugal for not applying reciprocity in the mobility agreement

The Business Confederation of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CE-CPLP) accused Portugal of not giving reciprocal treatment to Portuguese-speaking citizens seeking visas, and defended that more needs to be done for mobility.

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"There is still a lot of work to be done at the government level so that the implementation [of mobility] is effective", reads a statement sent to Lusa following the board meeting and general assembly of this entity, in which it is stated that Portugal, in particular, should accelerate efforts.

"Entrepreneurs, despite recognizing the regional specificities regarding the legislation for the entry of foreign citizens into their countries, maintain that, for example, the entry of citizens of CPLP countries into Portuguese-speaking African Countries (PALOP) is easier compared to the entry of PALOP citizens into countries such as Portugal, for example, without the desired reciprocity", reads the press release.

Entrepreneurs from the Portuguese-speaking world recognize the efforts of government officials, but warn that "they have been facing serious difficulties with regard to obtaining entry visas for the Republic of Portugal in particular, thus seeing their intentions of interacting and doing business with this country of the CPLP", it is written in the communiqué.

At the meeting on the 13th, which elected Jorge Pais as interim secretary-general of the organization that represents Portuguese-speaking entrepreneurs, the EC-CPLP warned that "despite the progress made at the time of the signing of the Mobility agreement by the CPLP governments in July 2021 in summit of the CPLP Heads of State and Government in Luanda with a view to its start in January 2022, the implementation continues to be lacking, not satisfying the intentions of the CPLP entrepreneurs and in particular the PALOP".

The agreement defines that mobility in the CPLP covers holders of diplomatic, official, special and service passports and ordinary passports.

The issue of facilitating circulation has been debated in the CPLP for about two decades, but it gained further momentum with a more concrete proposal presented by Portugal at the Brasilia summit in 2016, and became the priority of the rotating presidency of Cape Verde, from 2018 to 2021.

The mobility agreement has already been ratified by Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Portugal, Mozambique, Timor-Leste and São Tomé and Príncipe. The process is yet to be concluded in Angola - where it has already been approved by parliament - and in Equatorial Guinea.

In addition to the mobility issue, the EC-CPLP also announced that it had filled the vacancies in Brazil and Equatorial Guinea, with the entry of FUNCEX and the Consortium of Companies of Equatorial Guinea, respectively.

Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe and Timor-Leste are the nine member states of the CPLP.

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