Minister says in Coimba that Portugal pays attention to “bottlenecks” of world economic recovery – News from Coimbra
The Minister of State and Foreign Affairs warned today that Portugal must be aware of the conditions of the strong economic recovery that is taking place in Europe and the world and the bottlenecks that could affect its pace.
“We are aware of the bottlenecks that are hampering the pace and strength of an economic recovery that was very strong and fast, as soon as sanitary conditions allowed it”, said Augusto Santos Silva, at the opening session of the “Exports & Investment” conference, promoted by AICEP, which takes place in Coimbra.
In his speech, the official pointed out as major national objectives the increase in the degree of internationalization of Portuguese companies, the increase in the weight of exports in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the increase in the attraction of investment.
In this regard, the Minister of State and Foreign Affairs told journalists that Portugal will again set, in 2021, the record for attracting foreign investment, despite the fact that there are still two months to the end of the year.
According to Augusto dos Santos Silva, exports of goods “are already at the pace of 2019 and in services there is already a strong recovery in the main export sector, tourism and transport”.
The government official pointed out as worrying signs in the world economy as supply difficulties in terms of raw materials and the price of energy, despite the economy in the “euro zone and Portugal recovering well”.
In his communication, entitled “The positioning of Portugal and Europe in the new geopolitical / geoeconomic context”, he argued that Portugal can position itself as a positive response to some of the bottlenecks felt in several of the value chains”.
“A clear example is electric mobility, from a group of lithium reserves and respective green mining to the production and availability of batteries for the storage of electric energy”, he emphasizes.
The Minister of State and Foreign Affairs considers that Portugal will have an important role in “supplying the most evident needs of Europe in its energy integration, which has to do with the positioning of all elements of the electric mobility value chain, because who starts from lithium to batteries can easily go from batteries to charging networks and production of vehicles powered by electricity”.
According to the official, Portugal also has specific advantages that can place the country “very well in the challenge of the nearest future: sustainable tourism”.
Augusto Santos Silva also stressed that Europe is facing the development of two key ‘clusters’ in its energy transition – environmental industries and the blue economy of the oceans.