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Honourable President of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations,
Honourable President of COTEC Spain,
Honourable President of COTEC Portugal,
Honourable Director of the Department of Economy of the Presidency of the Spanish Government,
Honourable National Coordinator of the Lisbon Strategy and of the Portuguese Technological Plan,
Honourable Businessmen,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

In a global world, countries such as Portugal and Spain have one only route: take in change by viewing the world through the spectrum of opportunities. By not being afraid. By not waiting. By not being resigned. In May, when I was elected Chairman of the General Meeting of COTEC – Portugal, I had the opportunity to say that the great challenge for Portuguese enterprises could only be “Think Global, Act Global”.

I would like to commend COTEC Spain and COTEC Portugal for the organization of this Iberian Encounter at the time of my State Visit to Spain. Portuguese Small and Medium Sized Enterprises had thus the opportunity to establish contacts with Spanish companies and make known their products and services.

Just yesterday I had the occasion to present His Majesty the King with a special gift: Portuguese software, with maps of Portugal and all of Europe, which allows, in eight different languages, and by using a mobile phone, access to geographically referenced information and to navigate with visual and vocal instructions.

It was, naturally, a symbolic gesture, but of great significance: that of making known the XXI century Portugal.

An enterprising Country, with self confidence, capable of gearing down centres of scientific and entrepreneurial creativity, and of asserting itself as a country of opportunities. Portugal knows that the future will largely depend on a capacity to create riches based on innovation and knowledge.

The importance lies with the economic activities of the future, and to reach these requires a strong spirit of initiative. The blending of technological innovation with entrepreneurship is absolutely critical to attain victory in a global world.

The Lisbon Strategy will only succeed if it can call on the energy of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises.

For this purpose, Europe needs to strengthen its “entrepreneurial culture”. It is essential to stimulate and reward the results of work, effort and merit, as well as the audacity, the capacity to take risks and for initiative.

It is my conviction that, in these times of change, we must broadcast a message of support to entrepreneurs. We must recognize their merit – and remove the many barriers that so often discourage their investments and their initiatives.

This message is largely “cultural” but must be very clear: ambition is positive, it is worth while to take risks, it is worth while to open new routes, to grasp destiny with both hands, to think of life “on one’s own account”.

Stimulating innovation is an essential condition to increase European competitiveness.

I believe in the new generation of entrepreneurs. They base their competitive advantage on Knowledge, are ambitions and believe in themselves, have grip and optimism, think and want to act globally. It is important that conditions are created for this new generation to find opportunities to achieve fulfilment in Europe.

Ladies and Gentlemen

The Knowledge Society is a society based on confidence and cooperation.

In a Knowledge Society, confidence and cooperation, capacity for work and to create within a network are as important, or more so, than communications networks.

When people and institutions are capable to think and execute projects jointly, a fantastic example is being set.

To encourage public-private partnerships (between Universities, R&D centres, State laboratories and associates, enterprises), as well as encourage the procurement of R&D services and of knowledge-intensive products by enterprises, are key contributions towards the vigorousness of the innovation system.

It is necessary to develop the application of the results of research and guide these for the resolution of the needs of enterprises; foster researchers, within the scope of their career, to develop R&D projects inside enterprises; and create a culture of intellectual property which must anyway be considered in global market logic. It is necessary to stimulate setting up new technological enterprises by teachers and researchers, with recourse to “seed capital”, “business angels” and incubation; and to set up partnerships to participate in international R&D support programmes.

Day after day, the vision of the world as a real global village, complex, integrated and interdependent, becomes more tangible. What distinguishes the developed countries from the developing countries is, more than ever, the difference in Knowledge. Globalization is the source of new opportunities for the people and the organizations with more Knowledge. Countries with a large stock of Knowledge and which have available centres of scientific excellence have a better chance to attract quality investment.

Ladies and Gentlemen

The transformation of scientific and technological potential into innovation to generate new viable businesses, which engender growth and are susceptible to create value, is today Europe’s great challenge. This is not only a requisite of the Lisbon Strategy; it is an indispensable condition for the European economic survival in a global world.

The global circulation of ideas, information and knowledge allows us to learn with the world. Our youth has today other horizons: more than 35 thousand Portuguese students had the opportunity to live and learn in another European country, within the scope of the Erasmus programme, especially in Spain. This programme has already involved more than a million and a half Europeans. International travelling is more frequent and accessible. Work moves, creativity expands as in a network.

A Global world opens new opportunities for enterprises to sell in other markets, which previously were inaccessible or closed. The foreseeable explosion of the middle classes in emerging countries creates new and attractive markets, with high growth and increased purchasing power, and such advantages must be taken up by Portuguese and Spanish enterprises.

People are more interconnected than ever. In a few seconds, the search engines bring the world nearer to each of us. Goods and services produced in a country are readily available in any other. International communications have become an every day affair and their cost is extraordinarily small.

We live the transition to an interconnected world and society. More than an economic event, the Global world is also a cultural, social and political event, which turns us into active citizens of an ever wider community.

But it is true that this paradigmatic change implies a greater scientific and technological capacity for enterprises, when Knowledge becomes a truly decisive factor of competitiveness.

Ladies and Gentlemen

Portugal and Spain opened up new worlds to the World. The vocation for universality of both countries gave origin to the first Globalization of the modern age. We have today and extraordinary opportunity to show that we are able to take advantage of this new world without barriers which we now face.

As seen this morning, we already have excellent examples of Portuguese and Spanish technological enterprises, following daring strategies of internationalization and to conquer new markets.

For this reason, I believe that with an entrepreneurial Europe, with a spirit of initiative, confidence and cooperation, we shall be able sail these new seas and become winners.

Thank you very much