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

I warmly greet His Excellency the President of Mexico, D. Enrique Peña Nieto, as well as the distinguished members of his retinue.

My congratulations to the institutions involved in this initiative and thank you all for your presence.

The excellent political relations between Mexico and Portugal – which, in later years, have gained a new drive – our cultural affinities and the way our economies correlate, result in our two countries being natural partners.

Mexico is a country of great opportunities. In addition to its size, it is an economy with a large industrial capacity and which shows a growing tendency towards investment and to the consuming of quality goods. We are pleased to note the important ongoing process in the liberalization of the energy and telecommunications sectors promoted by the Mexican government.

Portugal, in its turn, is a country that is fully integrated in the large area of the European Union and which has a relevant presence in all continents. From Africa, whether in the Maghreb or in Portuguese speaking countries, particularly Angola and Mozambique, to the Orient – in China, in Macau or in East Timor. Additionally, Portugal is nowadays an important Atlantic gate to Europe. The Port of Sines is the first deep sea water port in the access routes to this Continent, be they from Africa or through the refurbished Panama Canal.

Mister President,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

With the end of the adjustment programme, Portugal recovered its credibility and its access to the markets. The Portuguese economy is nowadays more competitive, sustainable and better integrated in the global economy. Portugal undoubtedly offers today excellent conditions for non-European investors that wish to enter the European market.

Clear signals of the recovery of economic activity are emerging from this adjustment process, with effects on the reduction of unemployment. But what is most relevant is the fact that this recovery has been sustained by the increase in exports, which grew from 30% of GDP in 2010 to 40% of GDP in 2013. This is the path we will continue to follow. We are well aware that a small fully open economy is only sustainable in the long term with a modern and dynamic export sector.

We know that it is essential to keep up the rate of the ongoing structural reforms and that economic growth must be fundamentally based on national and foreign investment and on exports.

We are determined to provide whoever invests in Portugal with a stable and attractive entrepreneurial environment. As such, essential reforms are being carried out in labour relations, Justice, and in entrepreneurial licencing and taxation. Portugal also benefits from a novel and interesting European programme to aid investment, especially directed towards SMEs and innovation and competitiveness.

We are promoting greater interaction between companies, universities and centres for scientific and technological knowledge, as well as between national investment and foreign partners.

The majority of Portuguese companies present in this Seminar are aware of this route and are anyway characterized by their successful experiences in R&D and by the introduction of innovatory processes, and by internationalization in various areas of the planet, especially in Latin America.

We have in Portugal a totally new generation of companies, with relevant entrepreneurial, innovatory and technological capabilities. Many are developing differentiating products and services for new demand segments in the world markets: in electronics, in information technologies, in the fields of renewable energies, in the pharmaceutical industry, in the automobile and aeronautical sectors, in the development of software applications for manufacturing or management processes, or in cultural and educational industries.

Also in the so-called traditional industries, such as footwear, textiles and clothing, furniture, agro-foodstuffs or wine, the accumulated experience and a strong trading position in the international markets, together with constant investment in innovation and creativity, are important added values that the Portuguese have been able to capitalize.

Equally outstanding are environmental management, preservation and requalification technologies, energy efficiency, infrastructure networks, land planning, urban valuation, city management and tourism connected activities, in all of which fields Portuguese companies have been proven in the global market.

Mister President,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

The potential of opportunities in the development of business and partnerships between our countries is doubtlessly enormous. The signature of instruments of entrepreneurial cooperation which we have just witnessed is an undeniable sign that we are going in the right direction.

I am also pleased to record that the existing Agreement between our two countries on double taxation relief has experienced an exemplary implementation.

I am convinced that the Portuguese presence in the global market has rendered us qualified partners for Mexican entrepreneurs. Mexico is, in turn, in a robust route of development and has shown interest in finding strategic partnerships in third markets.

We thus have converging strategic objectives and complementary opportunities which we can and must exploit.

It is with this conviction that I will end. But not without letting you know that I have well founded expectations that the work carried out in this Seminar and the meetings that will follow, will result in determining steps for Mexican and Portuguese entrepreneurs to identify mutual interests and take advantage of existing opportunities. I am certain that this Seminar will result in the strengthening of economic and entrepreneurial cooperation bonds. This will doubtlessly be a fundamental contribution from our entrepreneurs towards the deepening of relations between Mexico and Portugal.

Thank you very much.