The Minister of the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro, pointed out this Wednesday that Portugal is a “very safe, very stable” country for investors, having left an appeal for investment in the country.
In a panel at the Web Summit, which runs until Thursday in Lisbon, Leitão Amaro began by making an observation: “I’m a member of the Government, I’m not going to comment on domestic policies and US policies, moral positions”.
In the government’s opinion, Portugal is “a very safe, very stable country” and that the rights of investors are protected, as they “are not targets of discretionary behavior”.
In the case of economic stability, Leitão Amaro considered that Portugal has been one of the countries with the highest economic growth in Europe, with low unemployment and that it has managed to reduce debt in relation to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The minister also highlighted the political environment in Portugal, saying that it is possible to dialogue and that “this level of political, economic and financial stability is a rarity”.
Leitão Amaro also left an appeal to companies to invest in the country.
“Come to Portugal. Stay and invest here and develop your business here, because, by doing so, you are doing so in a country, in a region that is central, but which is connected to everything else, it is a beacon of stability, but also a point for many bridges”, he defended.
The official also pointed out that governments and companies must “adopt a stance of involvement and not distancing, not retaliation, increased pressure and antagonism”.
“Build bridges, get closer and don’t increase conflicts”, he launched, in a panel dedicated to North American tariffs.
Also present on the panel were the executive director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Business, Angeli Patel, and the professor of Chinese Development at the University of Cambridge William Hurst.
In Angeli Patel’s opinion, tariffs create a harsh environment, which is leading some technology companies to take their innovation hubs to other places, such as Toronto, Helsinki or Tel Aviv, in conditions that end up combined with remote work.
William Hurst pointed out that this “is a film that has already been seen”.
“It’s not the first time we’ve seen a moment of tightening in the global economy, we’ve seen this film before. There have been moments of tightening and relief in recent centuries at various times, it turns out that we were in a long period of relief in the last 40 years before this tightening began”, he highlighted.
In this edition of the Web Summit, which runs until November 13, more than 70,000 participants are expected and over 2,500 startups are expected to showcase their products and services and more than 1,000 investors.
The Web Summit began in Lisbon in 2016 and is guaranteed until 2028.