Welcome to the Official page of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic

Chairman of COTEC,
Chairman of the Prize Awarding Jury,
Chairman of the Follow-up Committee of the PME Innovation Network,
Director General of COTEC,
Entrepreneurs and Managers,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

We all know that there is no such thing as a permanent recession. In spite of the continuing fragile situation of the world economy, there are already a few notable signs of recovery in the international environment, as a result of the thriving demand of the main emerging economies.

Since it is foreseeable that the scenario of the economic recovery will not necessarily occur uniformly at a global level, this is the right time for entrepreneurs to take advantage, with doubled drive, of the growth in the external markets that are showing greater dynamism. It is along this path that we will reach a faster restructuring and growth of the Portuguese exporting fabric, in the face of an already relatively consolidated European market.
Today, the opportunities to dispose of national production are abroad. An exporting dispersal that relevantly reaches the emerging economies is especially important. Entrepreneurs must view with increased attention a broad range of countries, markets and business solutions and not confine themselves to areas with which they are familiar.

The difficulties faced by the Country do not hinder companies to take advantage of existing global opportunities, by capitalizing their specific skills.

Portuguese companies that are relevant exporters are still in a minority, and the markets where our products and services are expressively represented are relatively few.

But the fact is that, for those who have invested in strategies of diversification and geographical enlargement, the results are compensatory. In spite of all the difficulties and uncertainties, the prospects for growth of exporting companies in the current year are positive.

The strengthening of our presence in external markets assumes an ever greater decisive importance so as to enable the restructuring of our economy and to find a new growth model. The great challenge will be to establish a relevant position in the new worldwide trade and innovation nuclei, in a truly global vocation.

The task of capturing new external customers and ensuring their loyalty is always more demanding than in the domestic market. In the current environment, the entry into new markets is an almost titanic task, which will demand effort and courage, but that we cannot refuse.

I do not ignore, equally, that the processes of entry into new markets demand solid financial and organizational resources. Only with financial strength, organization and adequate skills, in addition to a fair amount of talent, will companies be able to achieve results in a scenario of high international competition.

Above anything else, a global presence demands strong leadership capability. Leadership that imprints a strategic guidance aligned to innovation and clear objectives.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The competitiveness of our companies cannot but be a national objective.

In a context of urgency, such as that in which Portugal finds itself, the public powers must place the highest priorities in their efforts to minimize bureaucracy in the life of exporting companies and reduce, as far as possible, their context costs. But there is more: all new legislation relative to companies’ activities must be subject to a test on their impact upon entrepreneurial competitiveness.

On another hand, especially in what concerns smaller sized companies, the effort in facilitating access to instruments for the support of international trade, from credit insurance to export financing, must be intensified.

The State shall equally be duty bound to recognize companies’ efforts, particularly through fiscal policies that will operate as incentives to gains in competitiveness.

There is no available option: notwithstanding their difficulty, we must conquer the existing challenges. In the past, the Portuguese proved their talent and their fibre and showed the world they were capable of overcoming any obstacles. I cannot believe that we have changed that much.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Small and medium sized innovative companies are one of society’s most powerful forces of change. Their leaders are, typically, people who are ready to accept change as a fact of life. They know where they want to go and what they want to be. They establish clear and ambitious objectives. They encourage a culture of belonging and of involvement of all in the purposes of the organization.

The contribution of the innovatory SMEs cannot be ignored for the consolidation of a new model for the Portuguese economy. To start with, due to their capacity for the creation of net employment. And, above all, because it is in the innovatory SMEs – and for this reason, the most competitive – that the strongest potential for the growth of the exporting capability of our economy can be found.
Five years ago, COTEC defined an action plan addressed towards an initial set of twenty four SMEs, with the objective of obtaining public recognition for their attitude and innovatory activity, and as an example of the creation of value for the economy and for the Country. This was the breeding ground for a happy idea, the SME Innovation Network.

It was in this same spirit that I visited, throughout my mandate, many of the companies comprising this Network, a fair sample of what is most innovative and competitive in the national economic fabric.

The success of the Network is undeniable, a result of coherent approach and persistent work from the team responsible for organizing and carrying out the activities of this COTEC initiative.

The success of this initiative is proven by the growth of the Network in these last five years. I record with great pleasure that COTEC has answered my initial challenge and has been able, year upon year, to exceed the expectations of the enlargement of the Network.

I greet the recently arrived companies, who accepted the challenge to become part of a prestigious group. Admission to the Network results, as should be recalled, from the application of rigorous criteria, vouching for a group of SMEs with a high degree of quality and performance.

The Network grew and diversified within the characteristics of the companies that comprise it, implying new answers from their dynamic operators. But the original objective must continue to be the same: to single out the merit of who assumes a culture and a practice of innovation.

This is the spirit of the SME Innovation Prize that I was pleased to award today. I now renew my congratulations to the winners.

The COTEC SME Innovation Network represents, in addition, a continued exercise of cooperation that should be emphasized. We know that innovation does not result from individual work but from the collaboration of many. It is not limited by geography or by borders.

For this reason I underline COTEC’s effort in the specific support for the successive stages of growth of the innovatory SMEs, either through promoting their visibility to investors, or in support of their internationalization.

Also with regard to entrepreneurial cooperation, I would emphasize the fact that today’s meeting comprises leaders of innovatory SMEs and leaders of the largest national corporations. This meeting, such as those prior to it, is a good opportunity for the strengthening of bonds of cooperation between organizations that are complementary in their specific skills.

For this exact reason, conditions for a greater approach between small and large companies must be encouraged. I am convinced that the narrowing of relationships, through more partnerships and joint innovation processes, will be a benefit to all.

The companies that comprise the SME Innovation Network are a good sample of what could become, in the near future, the basis of the Portuguese economic fabric. It was thus with great pleasure and with well-founded hope that I joined this 4th SME Innovation Meeting.

Thank you very much.