Brazil wants to attract foreign workers
BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazil will change its immigration law to make it easier for foreign workers to enter the country and meet growing demands for labour, Strategic Affairs Minister Marcelo Neri said yesterday.
He said the country wants professionals from countries with “linguistic affinities” with Brazil, such as Spain, Portugal, Italy and countries in Latin America.
Foreign workers are needed because the current “situation of near-full employment” could jeopardise the country’s future economic growth, he added. The unemployment rate in November 2013 was 4.6 per cent, the lowest level since 2002.
Neri told foreign correspondents in the capital that the Government will make it easier for highly qualified professionals such as engineers, doctors and technology specialists to work in Brazil.
Last year, Brazil launched a ‘More Doctors’ programme that resulted in the arrival of more than 5,000 Cuban doctors to work in impoverished areas where physicians and medical services are scarce.