The Regional Assistant Secretary of the Presidency for External Relations announced in Horta the Regional Government's intention to create a Regional Migration Council in 2018.
 
Rui Bettencourt spoke at the Legislative Assembly during the discussion of the Plan and Budget proposals for 2018. The government official underlined that this is an initiative to "raise the voice of emigration and immigration." Its action within migrant communities are "more in line with new generations and more focused on the geostrategic and geopolitical value of the Diaspora."
 
In order to recognise the value of the Azoreans living in the Diaspora, the 270th anniversary of the arrival of Azorean settlers in Santa Catarina will be celebrated in Brazil in 2018, a year that the city of Florianópolis declared as the "Azorean Year."
 
Rui Bettencourt also stated that, next year, the annual meeting of the Houses of the Azores will take place in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, after having been held in Toronto this year.
 
The Regional Secretary also emphasised that the recognition of the value of Azoreans of the Diaspora involves the question: "what can each Azorean in the world do for the Azores." In this regard, the government official stressed that "the value of each Azorean in the Diaspora requires being aware of this mission."