Speaking to Lusa, Vasco Malta, responsible for the IOM office in Portugal, explained that the objective of this plan is the “good management of labour migration in Portugal”.

“We have identified two critical areas of labour need in Portugal, which are nothing new to anyone: agriculture and tourism” and the plan “is based on the principles of safe, orderly and regular migration, but also on the protection of migrants' rights, ethical recruitment and sustainability itself”, explained Vasco Malta, highlighting that bilateral migration agreements already signed by Portugal can be used, as is the case with Morocco, India or Cape Verde.

The official said that the objective of this plan “was to propose a set of recommendations that aim to accelerate the documentation processes of these migrant people, improve recruitment practices, but also strengthen integration and coordination between institutions in Portugal and, with that, promote an informed and ethical approach to managing labour migration”.

In these cases, the IOM could “help implement, even if only with a pilot project”, a plan that identifies the needs to be fulfilled from a work point of view and then “try to make the 'match' in the country of origin of these people".

Then, the IOM could “prepare these people pre-departure”, including, if necessary, “training in their country of origin so that, when they arrive in Portugal, they are already prepared, with some background to be able to effectively help implement at work or in the area in which they came to work”, he also said.