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

Honourable Minister for Public Works, Transport and Communications,
Honourable President of the Portuguese Association for the Development of Communications,
Honourable Conference Chairman,
Honourable President of the National Communications Authority,
Honourable Conference Members,

At the closure of the 2007 edition of the Communications Conference, I wish to greet, first of all, the Portuguese Association for the Development of Communications, the main sponsor of this initiative.

I also congratulate, naturally, all who are taking part in this meeting, justly recognized as the most relevant national event in the fields of communications, information technology and the media.

The interest and the opportunity of its agenda as well as the eminence of the speakers have made the Communications Conference an unparalleled forum of analysis and public debate and an instrument for the projection of the industry.

This year’s central theme does not constitute an exception, when inviting the participants to reflect upon the dynamics of the changes affecting the communications sector in Portugal, and in the European and global context.

I am certain that the objectives announced by the organizers have been fully met, not just for the benefit of the participants, but also for the benefit of the Country, in view of the vital importance of the theme in our economic development process.

As we well know, communications are the great catalyst and the main vehicle for globalization. No country will be able to conquer the challenge of the global economy if it is not equipped with a modern, efficient, innovative and competitive communications sector. This is a decisive and unavoidable condition to guarantee economic and social progress in the 21st century.

In Portugal, as in most European countries, the communications sector is singled out by the increasing weight it assumes in the national economy. Apart from its direct impact on the economy, the intense technology inherent to the sector drives innovation and growth in all areas of productive activity. And communications are, as well, the means that promote and convey, to a large extent, the synergies deriving from globalization.

The vital importance of technological development for the communications sector and particularly, for telecommunications, was, after all, the accelerator for the liberalization of the sector in Europe, demolishing the monopolies and the State control over the provision of such services. The objective was, and continues to be, the creation of an increasingly competitive environment calling for greater innovation.

It must be recognized that it was precisely the liberalization of the communications sector that encouraged producers and operators to launch new products and services in the market at continuously lower prices. Likewise, it was liberalization that stimulated the improvement in the infrastructures and, especially, the investment in new fixed and mobile networks. The path of modernization registered in the world of communications in the last few decades is absolutely incredible.

However, not all targets were achieved. If it is true that, in the view of the consumer, the opening of the markets was generally successful, it is no less true that the regulatory framework has not yet produced all the expected and desirable effects considering the ultimate objective, which is the building of a modern, competitive and harmonically integrated European single market for communications.

For such a purpose the excessive fragmentation of the regional markets, the considerable regulatory asymmetries between markets and the scarce cross-border interaction must be overcome.

Liberalization will only be sustainable and beneficial if it generates the trust of the consumers, operators, workers and investors. To generate such a trust, liberalization must be carried out transparently and with proper balance, allowing all legitimate interests to be expressed, encouraging new initiatives and innovation in general, and fighting the protectionist instinct that paralyses entrepreneurship and inhibits healthy competition.

In this perspective, it is fundamental to have available a credible, consistent and transparent regulation. On the other hand, it is necessary to combat bureaucratic and administrative excesses which at times hide real protectionism and which, one way or another, only result in an onus which weighs down societies and economies.

In this sector, so particularly dynamic and competitive on a worldwide scale, the uncertainty as to the rules of the game or their frequent change distort competition and are no incentive to investment, with a negative reflection on the consumer.

Thus the special relevance of the recent proposal of the European Commission for the amendment of the current regulatory framework, in which emphasis is placed on measures to intensify competition in the infrastructures and on the enlargement of the telecommunications single market.

The national regulatory authorities are called upon to guarantee the operation of the communications sector under a more harmonized and transparent competitive framework. And, not less relevant, those authorities are called upon to exercise greater supervision over the practices of the sector’s operators. An adequate regulatory framework is not sufficient. It is imperative to guarantee that it be effectively respected by all concerned.

Conference Members,

As I have already stated on many occasions, the Portuguese economy is crossing a decisive stage, facing several unavoidable challenges which derive from European integration as well as from globalization.

I am pleased to have this opportunity to note that the Portuguese communications sector has accompanied the technological acceleration with success and, in this field, is in the forefront of Europe. It is a sector which has been a factor of progress in the Portuguese economy, promoting gains in productivity, easing entrepreneurial initiative and favouring internationalization. We all trust that the operators in this field, who have known how to stand in the front line of the fast and demanding technological developments of the latter years, are able to rise to the answer of the new technological and marketing challenges which are incessantly foreseen.

Additionally, the sector has invested in an intense and fruitful cooperation with universities and research centres, resulting either in research and development projects or in educational and training programmes for technicians. The installation, in our country, by large multinational companies, of centres of global competence, is the most eloquent testimonial of the quality of this cooperation between centres of knowledge and the communications sector. It is an example which is worth singling out and which I would like to see repeated in other sectors.

Also worth singling out, within the field of information technologies, is the surging of a new generation of enterprises which are specializing in electronic communications, in digital networks and in the media, with innovative solutions which compete successfully in the international markets. These new companies, some of which with global expansion and dynamics are true partners in innovation. Advantages must be derived from their success for projection into new initiatives and new markets, capturing the emerging value for our Country!

In this context, the optimistic perspective with which I regard the future of the communications sector in Portugal seems well found. Without underestimating the challenges which are being faced, I am convinced that the sector can significantly contribute to the Country’s progress and to the competitiveness of the Portuguese economy.

This notion of progress and competitiveness naturally includes the building of a real knowledge society, one of the vectors of the Lisbon Strategy. This is an objective with an undeniable scope, which generates new and enlarged opportunities but which could also engender new risks of exclusion. Avoiding these risks is a duty of the State, but this should also be shared, primarily, by all the operators in the communications sector. This is a part of the social responsibility of enterprises which I defend as an inalienable priority.

It is thus essential to eliminate the barriers in the access to technologies. Such as it is equally essential that users are given the incentive to acquire new skills.

With the indispensable convergence of efforts between the State and the various economic and social operators, it will be possible to avoid and resolve issues as important as the progressive obsolescence of abilities and skills and the premature exclusion from the labour market.

Conference Members,

The Country expects much from the communications sector. It expects its contribution towards the competitiveness of the Portuguese economy. It expects its contribution to the strengthening of the social and territorial cohesion of the country. It expects its impetus for new entrepreneurial initiatives. It expects its redoubled endeavour in cooperation with Portuguese universities and research centres. It relies on its contribution for the defence of national identity, of our culture and of the projection of the Country in the global world and, particularly, in Portuguese speaking countries. And it also relies on its contribution towards equality of opportunities and social inclusiveness.

I am confident the Portuguese communications sector will know how to rise to such demanding expectations.

Thank you.