The Romanians based in Portugal make up a well-integrated community, they work in the sectors that have a labour shortage and make a positive contribution to the country’s economy, Portuguese ambassador Joao-Bernardo Weinstein told AGERPRES.
‘Around 40,000 Romanians live in Portugal. It is a well-integrated community, in the labour market included, because Romanians, in general, very easily learn Portuguese, a neo-Latin language, the same as Romanian. The Romanian community in Portugal contributes to the Portuguese state’s welfare very much. Most Romanians work in areas that I would call ?modest’, since they do not require special skills: civil engineering, agriculture, trade. More recently, the Romanians are being present in tourism and restaurants. They also work as vendors, when they speak Portuguese. Or in hotels. On the other hand, Portuguese universities are increasingly searched for by the young Romanians coming to study there, but the opposite also stands — an increasing number of young Portuguese come to study in in Romania by Erasmus scholarships’, Weinstein said.
As for the ?modest’ sectors in which the Romanians work, the Portuguese ambassador explained that the Portuguese having emigrated back in the 1970s were not highly-skilled either or were even unskilled.
When asked whether the Romanians have taken the Portuguese their jobs, leaving them jobless, the ambassador stressed it is about complementariness, since a range of sectors are facing obvious personnel shortage.
‘It is out of the question that the Romanians allegedly have taken the jobs from the Portuguese. Portugal is an emigration country. Very many Portuguese have gone abroad, so that a range of economic sectors have remained with unfilled jobs, with less employees. I would call them ?uncompetitive’, since the Portuguese merely no longer want to accept those jobs, for example in building, agriculture, small trade’, he said.
Weinstein, in this context, underscored his country ‘has always supported the free movement, as well as Romania’s bid to join Schengen Area, since the technical criteria are fully accomplished’.
With respect to the Portuguese living and working in Romania, the ambassador explained it is about a much smaller number, around 900 — 1,000 persons; 25 big Portuguese firms are registered at the Embassy, he added.
‘I believe there is interest in new investments in Romania, because the Portuguese firms that are already here have had a positive experience and have decided to stay and maybe their example will encourage others to come as well’, the Portuguese ambassador said.AGERPRES
