The information was released this Friday by the Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security of Portugal. Speaking to the Lusa agency in Luanda, Ana Mendes Godinho, explained that the agreement aims to "guarantee that Portuguese workers who are in Angola have the right to carry with them their rights to social protection, social security, and the same with Angolan workers who are in Portugal".
Ana Mendes Godinho participated in the 15th meeting of the Ministers of Labor of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) in Benguela province and signed the agreement called "Commitment of Benguela" with her counterpart Teresa Rodrigues Dias.
According to the Portuguese minister, the "historic agreement", which should come into force next year, will make it possible to "recognize and value the social protection of workers, in order to recognize their rights, namely in terms of retirement".
The Portuguese official underlined that people in active employment will thus be guaranteed that their contributory careers, in Portugal or Angola, will accompany them throughout their lives, "being able to later retire in Portugal with the rights of the years worked here and also for Angolan workers to retire in Angola with the corresponding entitlement for the years worked in Portugal".
"We have in Portugal, at the moment, about 26,000 Angolan workers actively contributing to social security, so they are part of the system, in terms of numbers regarding Portuguese workers here in Angola, the estimate we have is around 70,000 people who will potentially be covered, as they are an active population at the moment working in Angola", he informed.
Ana Mendes Godinho stressed that these numbers are just estimates, but the agreement will guarantee "that many people who today may not be covered will have every interest in being part of the discounts here in Angola, because this will be accounted for in the entire contributory career ".
"This agreement will cover all workers who paid for Social Security, whether in Portugal or in Angola. All contributions made before the conclusion and before we managed to put this agreement into effect will be covered", reinforced Ana Mendes Godinho, noting that the It is due to enter into force on January 1, 2024.
The head of the portfolio for Labour, Solidarity and Social Security in Portugal highlighted the articulation and diplomatic work existing between the two ministerial departments, Portuguese and Angolan, which involves technical visits between the social security bodies of Portugal and Angola.
Regarding the CPLP meeting, Ana Mendes Godinho highlighted the presence of all the Portuguese-speaking Ministers of Labour, who recognized the importance of being able to mobilize all the instruments so that the Mobility Agreement signed within the scope of the CPLP guarantees, in fact, the rights of workers .
