Portugal needs courage to act!

Recently, the Leixões Cruise Terminal and Exponor hosted two events that debated central themes in the current and future context of the national economy and companies in particular.

The Cruise Terminal, a place where land and sea meet, where space opens up to the global, hosted the conference that materialized the second edition of the Portugal Export +60'30 project, which defines the country's goal as: to achieve a GDP share of at least 60% in exports by 2030. This is a demanding goal, given an extremely volatile, uncertain and high-risk context, where the fragmentation of international trade stands out, with waves of protectionism that negatively impact global supply chains, economic activity and, consequently, external demand for our economy. Although the still dominant weight of the European Union as a destination market for Portuguese exports may have some mitigating effect, it is necessary to continue strengthening market diversification, towards more dynamic and, hopefully, larger destinations.

For all these reasons, 60% of GDP in exports is an essential goal, which requires collective mobilization, strategic vision, determination, resilience and courage to act. There is the advantage of Portugal being, today, a more open economy, with companies that innovate, reinvent themselves and with a capital of trust that they build daily.

Exponor hosted the 18th edition of the QSP Summit, under the theme “ The New Strategic Drivers ”. It could not be more timely or more relevant, considering that we live in times when traditional management and development models no longer respond, on their own, to the complexity of the challenges we face. Technological transformation, sustainability, geopolitics, talent shortages, artificial intelligence, and new consumer demands are just some of the new strategic drivers that are forcing companies, institutions, and countries to rethink their priorities, their ways of competing, and, above all, their ways of creating value. Portugal is not on the sidelines of this reality. And that’s a good thing. Because it is precisely in this context that we have the opportunity to assert our capacity for adaptation, our talent, and our strategic vision.

As they have demonstrated on other occasions, I am convinced that our entrepreneurs will once again have the ability to make things happen, to find the right solutions at every moment to successfully face enormous challenges. Agility, focus and resilience are fundamental factors. It was no coincidence that these three characteristics, “skills”, were widely mentioned by different speakers throughout the 18th edition of QSP!