Filipe de Botton talked with Lusa agency news in antecipation to the Annual Meeting about the work that has been done since the Council’s creation and the future perspectives that are coming soon.

The Portuguese Diaspora Council, a ‘think-tank’ that gathers Portuguese managers and entrepreneurs living abroad, is going to meet again this Friday in Cascais, with the talent on the agenda, has concrete goals. The President of the Board, Filipe de Botton, states that the goal for the future is to make concrete actions, giving the example of an initiative in the area of cancer prevention, that allows a saving of 1 billion euros.

Interviews by Lusa on the previous day of the Annual Meeting 2018, the entrepreneur explained that the council ‘is a think tank’ but it’s also doing concrete actions”, highlighting the field of cancer prevention and an investment of 50 million USD between Universidade Católica Portuguesa and on of the counselors “for a center of biotechnology to serve the world from Portugal”.

The Portuguese Diaspora Council gathers together for seven years now, once a year, with the honorary president and vice-president, that are the President of the Republic and the minister of Foreign Affairs, discussing two main themes and proposals about how to help Portugal becoming more attractive.

“We bring to discussion two themes and the main stakeholders to talk about a specific topic and share their experience, and this year the themes are the talent, the retention and creation of talent, and the relative position of Portugal to maintain or improve the good competitive indexes”, said Filipe de Botton.

Portugal, he supported, “is being a victim of its success” because it has been a place for privileged investment, “there is a lack of well prepared human resources to respond to the talent needs”.

The Portuguese Diaspora Council has two main priorities, that are to bring closer the diaspora to the influential Portuguese people, to bring ideas and to build a bridge between the country and the potential investors, and internationalize the Council.

“For the future we want to internationalize the Portuguese Diaspora Council”, highlighted Filipe de Botton, giving the example of the EurAfrican Forum, that occurred last summer in Estoril, and whose presence of the minister of the External Relations of Angola, Manuel Augusto, together with more seven African ministers, allowed to “reopen the diplomatic relations between Portugal and Angola, a lateral effect, but that demonstrated the role that the Council can have”, concluded.

By Eco and Lusa, December 2018