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

Honourable President of the European Group of Family Corporations
Honourable Conference Chairman
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I begin by congratulating the President, Mr. Michael Worley, the Founder and Honorary President, D. Mariano Puig, and the members of the European Group of Family Corporations, which celebrates this year its 10th Anniversary. I would also like to especially greet Prof. Ernâni Lopes, Conference Chairman and Dr. Peter Villax, President of the Portuguese Association of Family Corporations, who will have had a decisive role in the choice of Lisbon, which is both joyous and opportune, as the stage for its being held.

In spite of the natural specificity of the work developed by the Conference, the topics breached are relevant to us all, not only nationally but also in terms of the European Union.

The future of our economies and of our societies depends much upon the way in which our enterprises, our entrepreneurs and our managers approach the fast changes arisen by the advent of this century, in which the intensity of the rhythm of scientific and technological innovation, is in tune with the competitive challenges associated with the deepening of European integration and with the irreversible market globalization.

The European entrepreneurial structure is mainly made up of family corporations, which are transversal to practically all of the productive and value creating fabric, and which represent a high proportion of the domestic product and volume of employment of the Member States. This is anyway not exclusive to the European economies: there are estimates indicating that between 65 and 80 per cent of all the worldwide enterprises are family corporations.

It is peculiar to note the growing interest of academic and professional circles for the study of family corporations and the development, for some years past, of new theories on the dynamics of these institutions.

As is the case in the leading North American and European universities and schools of management, which were pioneers in offering courses and specialist programmes addressed to shareholders and inheritors, many countries, including Portugal, have significantly increased this area of training, both within university education and in associations.

Even public institutions responsible for entrepreneurial policies have been giving it increased regard, well aware of the relevance of professional management and of planning succession for performance purposes, and for the success of family corporations.

Although such corporations are of varied juridical types and dimensions – I anyway believe that approximately 200 of the 1000 largest European corporations are family based – their main numbers are predominantly micro, small and medium sized enterprises.

In the SME community and mainly in the world of family corporations, the internal organization is extremely diversified, with great disparities in the respective structures and competences to which naturally correspond different issues, needs and capabilities.

Some of the characteristics of family corporations confer on them particular abilities to successfully face the challenges brought about through the advent of the new century.
Firstly, because of their entrepreneurial instinct, and because of the culture of entrepreneurship which they tend to sow within the scope of the family and to transmit to new generations.

Secondly, by their trend to propitiate a longer term view, instead of entrepreneurial objectives pressured by quick returns or merely induced by momentary results.

Lastly, by the keen understanding that they have an effective social responsibility, an understanding which derives from their fundamental values, their traditional performance with their nether communities. This is anyway an entrepreneurial activity which is attracting more attention and which becomes more relevant the more we advance in market globalization.

However, in line with assertive assets, I would like to underline a saying which, in its simplicity, is very concise: “Durable family corporations are those that innovate”.

Truly, the rhythm and size of change affects, with increasing intensity, many of our economic and social paradigms. The dimension of the life cycles of technologies, of products and of processes is ever less coincidental with the life cycle of a family.

The opening and the capability to face the needs for innovation and renewal are, as such, requisites which are more than ever indispensable to the aims for preservation and continuity which are singularly present in family corporations.

In order to reach ever greater levels of productivity and well being, economic resources must be assigned to the corporations and institutions which give them better use and know better how to value. Family corporations, apart from preserving the family heritage, must equally guarantee that the economic resources they control are efficiently used for the benefit of society.

To ignore the positive contributions of family based corporations would be as grievous as ignoring the contributions that professional management, good governance practices and increased qualifications of the new generations can bring for their economic performance.

We are all conscious that economic progress involves a procedure of structural change of productive processes. But the truth is that our economies and our societies need the contribution of all types of enterprises, family based or not, large, medium sized or small.

I had the opportunity to emphasize, recently, that the necessary restructure of our entrepreneurial network cannot take place at the cost of small and medium sized enterprises, nor can it be the mere statistical corollary of their obliteration. Their sustainability constitutes, I would say in all the Member States, a fundamental component for the balance of economic development and for social and territorial cohesion as well.

It is thus crucial that the quality of public policies, both European and national, evolves such as to allow the release of the potential for growth and employment of small and medium sized enterprises, and to make full use of their capabilities for innovation. This is, anyway, one of the aspects which have been gaining relevance in the assessment of the Lisbon New Strategy.

Competitive sustainability of any enterprise must include social responsibility as one of its assets of assertion and success. I believe this is one of the main challenges which is faced today both by politicians and by business leaders, in the sense of finding a balanced model for economic growth and a real strategy for development.

I am firmly convinced that the delegates to this Conference will be specially inclined to agree with me and that this will be an additional motivation for the work of the European Group of Family Corporations.

Thank you very much.