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The 4th stage of the Route to a Dynamic Economy, which I am closing down here, is the highly deserved tribute to the Textile & Clothing Industry. I am very pleased to greet all the entrepreneurs present here today.

I decided, a year ago, to dedicate Routes to the industrial sectors of our economy, due to their fundamental role in economic recovery, growth and job creation. The processing industries are the lungs of any healthy economy. They are fertile ground for the generation of new technological and innovation possibilities and the main propellant of exports.

Their contribution to the growth and the dynamism of the Portuguese economy are unquestionable.

Two decades ago, several sectors of our economy were struck by the liberalization of international trade and reduction of protective tariffs and, as well, by technological acceleration.

Few believed then it would be possible for those sectors to escape competition through prices and through the creation of differentiated and innovatory products with superior quality and design, projecting such advantages through internationally prestigious “made in Portugal” labels.

Contrary to the expectations of many, the last decade witnessed a deep restructuring and revival of several industrial sectors. Textile and Clothing, Footwear, Metalworking, Ornamental Stones, Furniture, are some of the sectors that demonstrated being capable of treading a path of recovery in competitiveness and of acquiring new strengths in the market.

In what can be termed as notable in every aspect, companies that survived difficult times were able to train human capital and, often radically, reset business strategies and models.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Textile and Clothing is possibly the industry whose image, by the end of the 20th century, became more related to a given economic decline which occurred amongst various industrial sectors.

But there are signs today that the storm is abating. The results of the latter years, and especially those of 2014, give us reason to be optimistic.

Contributing to this was the vision of the entrepreneurs who believed in the feasibility of their companies. Investment in products with better technical performance and greater added value, combined with a service adapted to customers’ needs, was one of the means found to escape price competition. A progressive reorganization of production allowed companies to increase flexibility and answering capacity.

Technologically advanced processes, as well as the adoption of methods to boost productivity and efficiency, improved marketing and the building of a reference mark in the fashion industries, professional capability, effective management, Research and Development for innovation, all these factors ultimately contributed to strengthen the competitiveness of the sector’s companies.

As such, and in a particularly adverse environment, it was possible to witness a recovery in margins, with relevant gains in productivity, which grew by 38% between 2009 and 2013.

In the last decade, 2014 was the best ever year in exports of textiles and clothing, with an 8% growth, and representing 10% of national goods’ exports. It should be emphasized that 80% of production was exported, an unprecedented proportion. The industry comprises approximately 7,000 companies, employs more than 120,000 workers and provided a very relevant contribution for 2014 to become a turnaround year in the development of the Portuguese economy.

The industry conquered new markets and is once again in the more competitive international routes.

Portuguese technical textiles have become distinguished through innovation in materials and their application in the automobile industry, in competitive sports, in defence, in firefighting, amongst others.

The change was achieved with courage, effort and tenacity from entrepreneurs, managers and workers. With decades old intuition and experience allied to the more up to date technical knowledge.

But equally with knowledge and planning, improved organization and an enhanced cooperation within the sector, overcoming the individualistic spirit that, in the past, was a feature of our entrepreneurial structure.

Geographic proximity of companies and the integration of the whole chain of production is an almost unique advantage in international terms. This region where the Textile & Clothing cluster is located has optimum conditions to assert itself in a Europe with economically competitive and technologically specialized regions.

The “Made in Portugal” label, in Textile & Clothing, is nowadays an advantage with which we can pride ourselves.

The industry’s entrepreneurs are to be congratulated for the path travelled until now.

It is thus with great satisfaction that I end in CENTI and CITEVE this 4th stage of the Route to a Dynamic Economy, dedicated to the industry that has here, in Vila Nova de Famalicão, the great strength of its development.

CITEVE and CENTI are included in an especially important research and innovation network. At a moment when technological acceleration is intensified, it will be more than ever necessary that proximity relations are kept up within the entrepreneurial structure.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
In the companies I visited today, I was able to corroborate the sophistication of the technology implemented, the quality of the organization, the training of their workers and the capability of the entrepreneurs to apprehend the main trends in the market and in the Textile and Clothing industry.

The sector is to be congratulated, as I stated before, due to the extraordinary recovery achieved in particularly difficult conditions. A word of recognition is due to the entrepreneurs for their capacity to endure sacrifice and for their tenacity, as well as to their Association, ATP, which I congratulate for its 50 years of age and for the service rendered to its members.

The Strategic Plan for the Clothing and Textile industry which was recently presented is a reason to place trust in the future. It identifies challenges, but draws routes to overcome them, showing a clear determination to continue growing in added value and in the quality of the employment created.

These were the grounds that led me to dedicate this day to the sector and to render it the recognition and the tribute it so greatly deserves. It is important that the successes reached are better known to the Portuguese.

I thus took the decision to distinguish some of the individualities that stood out, by their own merit, and that embody, due to their life histories, the pioneering and innovative spirit of the Textile & Clothing Industry. Through them, I render tribute to all the sector’s industries. And I am extremely pleased to award them the insignia of Commanders of the Order of Industrial Merit.

I thank you for your presence and to you all I wish the greatest personal and professional success.

Thank you.