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

I want, before anything else, to congratulate the organizers of this edition of the Iberian American Entrepreneurial Forum for the excellent programme they prepared and to salute all the participants who, with their presence, wished to contribute towards the reflection over some of the main topics which, starting tomorrow, will be debated in the Iberian American Summit in Estoril.

I am pleased to record that the importance of entrepreneurial innovation in our times is duly recognized and, what is more, its role in a framework of a strategy of development capable of sustaining extensive cycles of economic growth and social prosperity.

The management of the current economic and financial crisis must never allow us to forget the challenges that a global economy places on the assertion and growth of our companies, particularly those which are small and medium sized.

It is well known that the environmental situation of the economies, as well as the downturn in international trade, resulting from worldwide crisis, have a tendency to condition the levels of investment and innovation.

But it is equally known that the best way to assuage the impact of environmental fluctuations lies on a strong investment in the resolution of the structural weaknesses of companies. This investment must be based on innovation.

Innovation is more than ever an open system, which places companies in the centre of a process of transformation of knowledge into new factors of competitiveness.

A process which is developed from networks of knowledge and skills, many of them located externally to the companies themselves, and where investments are often shared with competing organizations.

The success of companies thus depends upon the capability to access and apply such knowledge, providing it with material expression through new products and services, lower operating costs, better practices in customer relations and greater job creation in sectors of intense technology. And it is exactly that capability, vital for the future of our economies that we want to see strengthened and expanded.

One of the great challenges which I believe is common to all the economies in the Iberian American Community will be the incorporation in the current productive structures of increased intensity of knowledge.

This is a challenge that calls upon not just the sectors with a higher technological coefficient, but also, and maybe particularly, the so called traditional sectors. Innovation is, in effect, a central objective for all economic activities.

In this perspective, I would call your attention to three aspects which I believe are fundamental:

The first is in respect of the deepening of interlinking. This means that companies require a better knowledge as to what, and where, are the diverse agents dedicated to generate skills and technology. Therein lays the need – and the interest – in the companies participating more often than ever in training and interactive processes, enhancing the role and the usefulness of universities and taking advantage of their offer of knowledge.

It is for this reason that I see, in the deepening of the area of innovation of the Iberian American nations, a unique opportunity to reinforce productivity and competitiveness in our companies. It is possible and desirable to intensify cooperation between the players of the different systems of innovation of our countries, specifically between companies and universities.

Which brings me to the second aspect: companies must be encouraged to assume with greater emphasis a central role in the innovation system. There are no further doubts that the interest in the search for new technological solutions by companies will always constitute the most efficient propellant of any innovation system.

The third and last aspect refers to the multifaceted and embracing characteristic of entrepreneurial innovation. Companies, even those less capable of innovating technologically, can equally be vehicles of innovation in their organizational, trading and marketing activities and even in the relations with the community where they are located. In addition, the success of companies does not only depend upon their skills in the process of wealth creation, but also, and more than ever relevant, in the capacity to place their products and services in global markets.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The global advent of the knowledge society is diluting the physical, cultural and political borders which traditionally separated companies, centres of knowledge and State institutions.

We are witnessing the appearance of new Areas of Knowledge, in which future relations are configured.

I hope that the geography of the Iberian American nations may constitute one of these Areas of Knowledge, and that our countries’ innovative companies assume an active and fruitful role in their deepening and consolidation.

Thank you very much.