Secretary of State Paulo Cafôfo in Switzerland

Secretary of State Paulo Cafôfo in Switzerland

The Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities (SECP), Paulo Cafôfo, will make his first visit to the Portuguese and Portuguese-descendant communities in Switzerland from the 25^th to the 29^th of October.

The trip, whose program provides for contact with Portuguese communities residing in six cantons - canton of Zurich, canton of Bern, canton of Neuchâtel, canton of Valais, canton of Vaud, canton of Geneva - is part of a set of initiatives with the diaspora, for this mandate, called "Portugal in the World: Paths for the Valorisation of Portuguese Communities", with the aim of strengthening ties, bringing Portuguese residents abroad closer to our country and, at the same time, contributing to a current vision of our diaspora.

The Portuguese community in the six cantons visited by the SECP amounts to 66% of the total community in the country, bringing together more than 172 thousand Portuguese people.

The program includes contact with the public service provided by the consulates and their employees, with community representatives in different areas of services, industry - with a visit to the factory unit of the company Calçada Polissage SA, in Le Locle - academy, associations and political participation.

Secretary of State Paulo Cafôfo will meet with consular officials, with a visit to the Consulates General of Portugal in Zurich and Geneva, consular section in Bern, as well as to the consular office in Sion, and will also have the opportunity to hear from students, professors and coordinators teaching Portuguese in Switzerland. There will also be a trip to the University of Geneva, where a lecture given by Professor Lídia Jorge will be attended.

Of the meetings with the Portuguese community, which are multiplied in the localities to which it travels - including in the Portuguese Center of Neuchâtel, which completed 50 years of existence - we highlight the meeting with association leaders, members of the Geneva Consultative Council and elected Councillors of the Council of Portuguese Communities, which will take place at the Consulate General of Portugal in Geneva.

The travel program also includes, on Wednesday, a meeting with the Secretary of State for Migration, Christine Schraner Burgener, in Bern, and on Thursday a meeting with the President of the Government of the Canton of Valais, Roberto Schmidt.

On Saturday, 29^th of October, the Secretary of State participates in the opening session of the conference Portugal+ Genebra 2022 (Portugal Positivo) at Collège de Pinchat, in Carouge, Geneva.