The Secretary of State for Social Communication (SECOMS in Portuguese), Nélio Isaac Sarmento, participated in the 4th Meeting of Social Communication Regulatory Authorities Platform (RAP) of the Portuguese Speaking Countries, in the city of Praia, Cape Verde, between November 2nd and 6th, 2015. The theme of the meeting was “The digital and the Portuguese language in globalisation”.
After Lisbon (2009), Sao Tome and Principe (2013) and Dili (2014), the time came for Cape Verde to assume the Presidency of the RAP, from Timor-Leste.
On the first day, the members of the RAP and the Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of Cape Verde, Démis Lobo de Almeida, gathered in the building of the Ministry of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers to debate the agenda of this 4th Meeting.
On November 3rd, work commenced with the intervention of the President of the National Assembly of Cape Verde, Jorge Carlos Fonseca. Then, started the restricted session, which approved the proposal for application of the Regulatory Authority for Social Communication of Cape Verde (ARC in Portuguese) to full member of the RAP.
At the open session, where were presented current developments and issues of the various countries, the Chief of Staff of SECOMS, Dionísia Maria Sávio, informed other participants of the creation of the Press Council and the migration process to digital in the Television and Radio of Timor-Leste (RTTL in Portuguese).
The Praia Declaration was approved at the end of this 4th Meeting, signed by all the members.
In parallel, courtesy calls were made to the sovereignty bodies, namely Prime Minister, President of the National Assembly and the President of the Republic, as well as to the RTC (Radiotelevisão Cabo-verdiana) and to Inforpress (Cabo-Verdean News Agency), to get firsthand knowledge on the services and equipment of these institutions. The participants in this meeting visited also historical places of the island, mainly the old city, declared World Heritage by the UN.
The Social Communication Regulatory Authorities Platform of the Portuguese Speaking Countries was created on October 22nd, 2009, in Lisbon. It started as a forum for discussion and cooperation, exchanges of information between regulatory authorities and to investigate matters related with the regulation of Social Communication.
Are members of RAP: Portugal, Timor-Leste, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Angola, Sao Tome and Principe and Equatorial Guinea. At this 4th Meeting were not present Equatorial Guinea and Sao Tome and Principe.
The delegation of Timor-Leste was constituted by the Secretary of State for Social Communication, Nélio Isaac Sarmento, by the Chief of Staff of SECOMS, Dionísia Maria Sávio, by Executive Advisor of SECOMS, Rui Manuel Viana, by Advisor for the Social Communication Programme – Cooperation Delegated by EU to Portugal, Camões I.P., Maria Assunção Cardoso Reis, and by the Advisor for multimedia, Evangelisto Gantry dos Santos Meilana.