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

Secretary of State for Defence and the Sea,
Chief of the Naval General Staff,
President of the Lisbon Chamber of Commerce and remaining Associations and Confederations present here today,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to start by expressing my thanks to all the entrepreneurial Associations and Confederations involved for their initiative in organizing this Conference, dedicated to ports and maritime transport, which I have sponsored, since it is a topic that I consider as fundamentally important for our country.

I also wish to thank the Lisbon Chamber of Commerce for the efforts it has developed, under the guidance of Dr. Bruno Bobone, gathering together all those bodies that have a clear notion of the sea’s relevance towards the future of the Portuguese economy.

The recent setting up of the Forum of Economy of the Sea Companies, following the work requested by the Lisbon Chamber of Commerce from Prof. Ernâni Lopes, is, without any doubt, an extremely valid initiative that I expect will contribute to attract investment to the national maritime sector.

Those present will not be surprised by my having often called the attention to the fact that Portugal is a traditionally maritime country due mainly to its geography, but has however not been able to view the sea as an important resource, creator of revenue and wealth.

On more than one occasion, immediately after my address upon taking office as President of the Republic and, more recently, during the celebrations of 25th April, I have not only shown my concern due to Portugal’s detachment relative to the exploit of the sea, but have also insisted on the idea that the sea must become a veritable priority in the national political agenda.

Truly, a country that is unable to sustainably exploit its natural resources is a country that is placing a limit on its future and risks having such resources exploited by third parties.

Our deficient economic operation of this valuable resource which is the sea is very clear, at least when we compare it with that of the remaining European coastal countries.

In accordance with the studies carried out by the European Union covering the traditional maritime sectors, such as transport, ports and naval construction, Portugal generates values that are three times lower than the value generated by Belgium, a country that only has a 98 Km coastline and equally generates employment that is three times lower than that of Greece. Spain generates, with its “sea cluster”, a value which is seven times greater than that of Portugal. And Denmark, a country with a much smaller population than ours, produces six times more value and three times more employment in the maritime sectors than Portugal.

This concern of mine, shared I am certain by many of those amongst you, is stronger yet when, facing the country’s economic situation and the persistence of structural problems in our economy, acutely requires to find new paths for economic development.

Paths that lead to new business opportunities and more, to new economic sectors and activities, generators of added value, which may eventually embody such businesses sustainably. The maritime sectors that are jointly designated today as “sea clusters”, due to their being underused and to their high potential in economic growth, are certainly very good candidates.

We cannot remain fettered to the inertia of the past and just limit ourselves to again undergo what we have previously achieved.

If the challenge is to reinvent our economy, producing more of what the foreign buyers require and to which they attribute considerable value, let us carry it out in sectors where we hold comparative advantages. And Portugal, due to its exceptional geographic and historical conditions, has immediately available in the maritime world, an enormous added value with the image created by the positive perception abroad of our links with the sea.

It behoves us to open up courses that allow the full exploit of this issue with public policies intended to develop these sectors that are able to compete with their European counterparts; with new investments in the maritime cluster, with the inclusion of fuller research, technology and innovation, with the creation of the necessary organizational and management factors, including the training of adequate human resources.

In effect, we all have an important mission if we want to embody a vision of Portugal as an economically sustainable country, also due to its geography and to the large maritime region it has available. All of us, not just the politicians, but equally yourselves, whilst organizers of the economic factors required for the development of companies linked to the sea.

And it is important that we do not just sit here looking at one another waiting to see who will start. I, as President of the Republic, have already started to carry out my duty. Moreover, I made a point last week of visiting Lisnave, to check on its recovery and recognize the exporting strength of this great ship repairing enterprise.

The Lisbon Chamber of Commerce has also commenced to carry out its duty, setting up a Forum that, I hope, may aid you in your actions. It is now up to you, and not to wait for what the Government may or may not do.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Although I share the vision that all issues regarding the sea are relevant and interconnected, I am well aware that a sea cluster cannot exist in Portugal if its nucleus does not contain a strong port and maritime transport sector. I thus consider this Conference as particularly opportune, since it is precisely in the maritime transport sector that the situation is more critical.

As incredible as it may seem, Portugal – a country with an extensive coastline and many sea ports – has arrived at a situation that, excluding traffic with the Islands, no longer has a merchant navy. A situation that is more than ever grievous when, in the future, even more than today, it seems important that the country may avail itself of maritime transport for the shipment of its exports.

In effect, due to the gradual but growing stiffening of European regulation concerning road transport, Portugal, that exports a large portion of its production by road, tends to be seriously penalized.

Maritime transport can and must be, in the future, a viable alternative to road transport. In order that this happens it is first of all necessary to take the required measures to promote maritime transport, at least adopting fiscal measures similar to those existing in the remaining European coastal countries.

It is also necessary that the European programme of sea highways, which has not yet evolved from its primary paper version, becomes a reality, and that the European Union supports generously and sustainably these intra-European lines of communication, specifically removing the excessive administrative procedures. Portugal has a lot to gain by influencing Brussels and the Commission in these areas.

It is important, finally, that national ports become more modernized than ever and that they may practice, in general, more competitive fees.

In the portuary sector, news is much better than it is for the maritime transport. In effect, the portuary sector has shown an important recovery in the past months.

The news arriving out of Sines, brings us very positive signs. Sines, due to its deep waters, which allow the entry and berthing of larger deadweight shipping, could become an Atlantic gateway for the Iberian market.

The Port of Portimão, in its turn, has been attracting more cruise ships than ever. The numbers of stopovers and visitors show the advantage of investing in portuary segments that are characteristic to each port, and reveal up to what point the sector of tourist cruises, which has shown strong dynamics, could be relevant for our country.

In general, Portuguese ports will have gained a 9% growth in the volume of freight handled during the first half of 2010, with Lisbon, for instance, recording a 15% increase in May ultimo.

It should however not be forgotten that Portuguese ports have been living continuing problems of organization and competitiveness, which have not yet been satisfactorily dealt with.

And there is still much to be carried out in the portuary area. This is extremely important since ports are vital communication valves for any economy, and even more so for an Atlantic country that is separated from Europe by the vast territories of Spain and France.

It is surprising to many of us, due to the strategic relevance of our ports that we can discuss for months and years without end the TGV or the new Lisbon airport without stopping for a while to consider the ports of the future.

In this perspective it is very important that this Conference is able to identify a number of concrete solutions that could be applied to the port and maritime transport sectors, boosting these economic activities for the benefit of the Portuguese companies and economy as a whole.

The worldwide evolutionary trends of these sectors are well known, as are well diagnosed the strong and the weak points that Portugal presents on the issue of ports and maritime transport.

Important research has been carried out in the last few years, not just in overall maritime issues, as was the case with the Report of the Oceans’ Strategic Committee and the work developed by Professor Ernâni Lopes, but also, and concretely, on the maritime-portuary sector. It is now time for these to be applied and I thus expect that today’s discussions are a strong stimulus for us to finally bring into practice the issue of the exploit of the sea.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The connection of Portugal to the sea assumes a special significance for a country that needs recognizing itself and its future. The sea is obviously important for economic reasons, but it is equally so due to the identity and sovereignty that it confers on Portugal. This is why it is urgent that the debate on transport policies, particularly on maritime transport, changes from the technical level in which it is generally maintained, to a higher political level.

On encompassing a maritime purpose, Portugal could again find a course that reconciles it with its geography. Today, perhaps more than ever, the Portuguese also need purposes which provide them with greater cohesion, greater self esteem. I am certain that the sea is one of them.

Thank you very much.