Welcome to the Official page of the State Visit to India

Honourable Chief Minister of Goa,
Honourable Minister for Economy and Innovation of Portugal,
Mister President of the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry,
Distinguished businessmen and guests,

It is with a very special emotion that I am in Goa today. And with great satisfaction, I greet the participants of this economic seminar organised under the auspices of the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry, whose dynamic president I would like to congratulate.

The emotion that I feel is the emotion that each one of us experiences when we recognise traits of our history and of our civilisation. It is a fact that history has left us a legacy of affinities, and Goa’s cultural characteristics clearly bear witness to this. So does the presence in Portugal of so many examples of the extraordinary richness of Indian civilisation, as well as of a large community of Indian origin who are fully integrated into Portuguese society and have brought about a very significant contribution to the country and its economy.

None of us are held hostage by our history. History is made every day. We must therefore make of our historic legacy a common asset, instrumental to the relationship with a future that we wish to build up between the India and the Portugal of the 21st century.

In this, we have the advantage of the excellent political relations between our countries, of an adequate network of agreements and protocols in several areas and of the will of the political, economic and cultural agents. Therefore, business ties and economic relations between Portugal and India which have somehow remained considerably below what might be expected, should be reinforced.

I believe Goa can play a fundamental role in this connection. I am particularly pleased to note the dynamism and strategic vision that has marked the activity of the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which recently headed a mission to Portugal.

I would like to congratulate the Chamber of Commerce for its efforts towards consolidating Goa as a top destination for quality tourism as well as for its support to activities having a stronger knowledge content, as in the case of the pharmaceutical industry, information technologies and, more recently, biotechnologies.

The spirit of initiative and the part played by this Chamber in promoting Goa as a home for new industries and as a source of skills has been recognised, moreover, by the Western and Southern India Business Association, which granted it the “Most Enterprising Award” just a few months ago.

Despite being the smallest of the States of the Indian Union, Goa is in an enviable position as far as its social development and quality of life indicators are concerned. Furthermore, I believe there is in Goa a lively awareness, both among the economic agents and the political authorities, of the challenges and opportunities related, on the one hand, to improving the domestic and external competitiveness of the State and, on the other, to ensuring a sustainable, people-centred growth path.

Also in this context, I cannot but emphasise the opportunity provided by this Seminar to enhance better mutual knowledge and closer contacts between Goan and Portuguese entrepreneurs.

The business delegation that accompanies me on this visit represents a number of the more dynamic sectors of the Portuguese economy – from information technologies, robotics and biotechnologies to tourism and engineering, not forgetting pharmaceutical products and financial services. It comprises top managers of companies that have an international presence and a global vocation, selected for their interest in India or in the establishment of partnerships with Indian companies. They certainly share with their counterparts present here a strategic vision and a corporate mindset turned towards the future.

Business leaders must get to know each other better. Flows of information and communication between our two countries must be strengthened. And politicians must help to create suitable conditions for business to materialize.

Portugal is a modern, safe, welcoming country, an open economy with excellent infrastructures, a highly developed financial system and a business community increasingly oriented towards innovation and internationalisation.

As a result of the fine relations between Portugal and Africa and Latin America, Portuguese companies have channelled a great deal of investment to these economies, particularly to those countries where Portuguese is the official language.

As a member of the European Union – currently one of India’s main trading partners – Portugal is also a platform providing access to a consolidated market of 500 million consumers.

Twenty-first century Portugal is an enterprising, country, able to multiply centres of scientific and business creativity, to make its mark as a country of opportunity. Portugal, like Goa, knows that the future is dependent to a large extent on the capacity to create wealth based on innovation and knowledge. And a country which sees India’s economic and political emergence as a natural process, in view of the country’s enormous resources and potential and of its ambition to ensure fast, sustainable development.

We are witnessing a transition into a networked world and society. More than an economic feature, globalisation is also a cultural, social and political phenomenon that makes us active citizens of an increasingly larger community, one in which geographic borders no longer provide protection or constitute an obstacle.

A few months ago, some two dozen leaders of the world’s biggest companies met in Portugal. They came from twelve countries from various continents and, together with as many representatives of Portuguese companies having global ambition, they debated the challenges of globalisation. To be more precise, this Council, created under my sponsorship, examined ways to promote globalisation that opens room for every country to participate, that is, a pluralistic globalisation.

The discussion made clear that, in a knowledge-based economy, there are no peripheral countries. There are business leaders able to build up their competitive advantage, by integrating knowledge dispersed around the world. A company does not necessarily have to belong to a wealthy economy in order to compete in the global marketplace.

Indeed, globalisation should be pluralistic, making working together easier, in a reasoning of interdependence and in a play of complementarity and fair competition, so that the winner in this process is Mankind as a whole.

From this point of view, Portugal has a great deal to offer India and India surely has much to offer Portugal. I believe there is much more we can do together.

And I also believe that the singular affinities that unite Goa and Portugal can turn Goa into a powerful agent in mobilising closer ties between both our countries and in establishing a new platform of relationship, co-operation and partnership that will be of benefit to all.

I can only wish each and every participant in this Seminar the utmost success in the works that are about to begin.