do Espírito Santo - Post Milenio

24 De 2 a 8 de Março de 2012
Milénio... Às Sextas-feiras, bem pertinho de si!
PORTUGAL
Presidente da República reconhece que algumas
previsões "assustam qualquer pessoa"
OPresident
e da
Repúblic
a reconheceu que
algumas previsões
"assustam qualquer
pessoa",
apelando à união
dos portugueses
para trabalharem
muito, bem e com
qualidade, pois
para criar
emprego é preciso
crescimento
económico.
Questionado sobre
os números divulgados
pelo Eurostat, que
apontam para uma taxa
de desemprego em
Portugal de 14,8 por
cento em janeiro, o
chefe de Estado
defendeu a união dos
portugueses para conseguir
"que a realidade
seja melhor do que as
previsões".
"Algumas previsões
que foram apresentadas
assustam
qualquer pessoa e, para
isso, nós temos que
melhorar a competitividade
do país para
exportar mais e temos
que ganhar a confiança
de empresários portugueses,
estrangeiros,
empresários da diáspora
para que eles possam
investir mais no país,
principalmente produzindo
bens que
podem ser exportados",
afirmou, em declarações
aos jornalistas à
saída da sessão de
encerramento do I
Congresso Mundial de
Empresários das
Comunidades
Portuguesas e
Lusofonia, que decorreu
em Lisboa.
Cavaco Silva acrescentou,
contudo, ter
"alguma esperança que
os resultados no ano de
2012 sejam melhores
do que as previsões
avançadas".
Porém, frisou, para
isso se concretizar os
portugueses têm de
estar "todos unidos, trabalhar
muito, trabalhar
bem, trabalhar com
qualidade".
Segundo números
hoje divulgados pelo
Eurostat, a taxa de
desemprego em
Portugal atingiu os
14,8% em janeiro - a
terceira mais alta da
União Europeia.
Embora as taxas não
sejam rigorosamente
comparáveis (o
Eurostat usa uma
metodologia diferente
da do INE), este valor
já está acima da previsão
do Governo para
o total deste ano,
14,5%.
Insistindo que é
preciso aproveitar a
potencialidade dos portugueses
e dos lusodescendentes
espalhados
por todo o mundo,
Cavaco Silva notou
ainda que para gerar
emprego é necessário
crescimento económico.
"Toda a gente sabe
que para criar empregos
é preciso crescimento
económico e,
como eu disse, o crescimento
económico ou
vem das exportações
ou vem do investimento,
para as exportações
precisamos de competitividade,
para o investimento
precisamos de
confiança", referiu.
ÁFRICA
Portuguese find the good life in Mozambique
Tropical beaches. Grilled prawns. Fine
coffee. And an economy growing by
almost 8% a year.
Who wouldn't be tempted by Mozambique?
"Here we can have a new life - a good life," says 32-yearold
Marcio Charata. And he is not talking about a few weeks'
holiday in the sun.
In his grey suit and tie, Mr Charata is one of a growing
stream of unemployed Portuguese, fleeing the economic
storms sweeping Europe and heading to their country's former
colonies - Mozambique, Angola and Brazil - in search of jobs
and opportunities.
Start Quote
We are not here to conquer a country.
Marcio Charata Portuguese expat in Mozambique
"Here is the opposite of Portugal - each day you see the
economy of Mozambique is growing," says Mr Charata.
"When you open the newspaper you see hundreds of millions
of dollars are to be invested.
"So it's a great atmosphere to be here and I'll say a safe
gamble to come here to work," he says, eating lunch at an outdoor
cafe in Maputo, surrounded by other young Portuguese.
"Of course it is quite ironic for Portuguese people coming
here. Portugal as a colonialist country in Africa - we did a lot
of mistakes and people my age are not proud of that.
"But I think our mentality is very, very different. We are
not here to conquer a country," he says.
Best and brightest'
After 18 months on the dole in Portugal, Mr Charata is
now a financial director at a large Mozambique media conglomerate,
earning "a similar" salary to what he could have
expected in Lisbon.
He has no plans to return home: "In Portugal your effort
doesn't matter. Unless you have a well-connected father there
are no jobs in private companies."
But the exodus of skilled workers - 120,000 left Portugal
Marcio Charata (R) earns a similar salary to one when he could expect
in Lisbon
in the past year alone, actively encouraged by their debt-ridden
government - has attracted criticism.
"It's very distressing to see that Europe cannot make the
right decisions to overcome the crisis and is again forcing the
people of Portugal to emigrate," says Ana-Maria Gomez, a
socialist member of the European Parliament.
"Portugal… is exporting the best, the ones that we need,
our scientists, our teachers, our engineers - the best and the
brightest that Portugal and Europe really need.
"It's a tremendous impoverishment to the country."
Looking out across the blue ocean in front of the
Portuguese embassy in Maputo, Ambassador Mario Godinho
de Matos takes a more sanguine view, pointing out that the
Portuguese have always been explorers.
"The world has really changed. We are facing many challenges
in our country. We must be realistic and try to adapt,"
he says.
"This is a country of big opportunities for young
Portuguese people - mostly very young with very high degree
of education.
"It's an opportunity for them to change their lives."
'Stealing jobs'
With Chinese and Brazilian mining firms already queuing
up to do business in Mozambique, the government here has
imposed limits on the number of foreigners each company
can hire, and there are plenty of stories of disillusioned
Portuguese heading home without finding work.
Start Quote
We must export, we must expose ourselves to good governance
and accountability in order not to have the same problems
that Europe is having now”
Daniel David Head of SOICO
There are also hints of a backlash from the Mozambique
public, who have already taken to the streets recently to
protest against rising prices and the country's growing wealth
gap, and who now worry about a creeping re-colonialisation.
"They've been stealing jobs," says Carlos Litulo, a local
photographer and entrepreneur.
"How can you bring someone from Portugal when you
have qualified accountants here?
We have good universities - so they graduate people but
when they go to these companies they don't get jobs."
He warns of trouble "in the coming years".
Much will depend on how Mozambique's government
manages these boom years - whether they can spread the
wealth widely enough and ensure that a soaring GDP translates
into jobs for locals.
Daniel David runs the SOICO, the media conglomerate
which recently hired Mr Charata. He is also the chairman of
the Mozambique Portugal Chamber of Commerce.
While some of his colleagues "laugh and joke" at the sight
of their former colonial masters struggling, he sees this as "a
learning process".
"What can we learn from this situation in Europe? What
can we do so that in the future it does not happen to us.
"We must export, we must expose ourselves to good governance
and accountability in order not to have the same problems
that Europe is having now."