This new association wants to position Portugal as an international shipping destination – O Jornal Económico
Formed by more than 30 entities, the 4Shipping Association (A4S) proposes to boost Portugal as an international shipping destination, by stimulating the blue economy. Among the various defined objectives are also the development of “traditional and emerging sub-sectors” of the blue economy such as maritime transport and related services, naval construction and compensation, ocean energy, marine biology, desalination, maritime defense and submarine fixed assets.
A4S hopes that Portugal can “gain competitive advantages” in relation to other European countries, through the 32 entities, in personal and collective name, linked to the sea and that combined with the new association.
According to a 2020 study conducted by Oxford Economics for an Association of Shipowners of the European Community (ECSA), in the European Union (EU) the shipment of goods directly contributes with 685,000 jobs and 54 million euros to the value moved gross (GVA). Adding to these values the indirect and induced effects that the activity offers, they increase to two million jobs and 149 billion euros.
Based on the study, an A4S wants to reach a target of 5% of the European expedition for Portugal. The estimated impact of this market share, based on the aforementioned study, is 100,000 jobs and seven million euros or 3.5% of the gross domestic product (GDP). Numbers that would place Lisbon in the group of the 50 main maritime capitals in the world.
Jorge d’Almeida, co-founder of A4S, argues that it is essential that public and private stakeholders “act in a concerted manner in the construction of a public policy that allows Portugal to assume itself as a destination for the activity of the shipping international”.
For this purpose, A4S states that it will collaborate in the definition of policies in the national, European and international domain related to the maritime sector, with academic and professional education institutions for the training of maritime professionals and entrepreneurs, contributing to the production and dissemination of knowledge within the activity, through the organization and management of projects, the promotion and implementation of training actions, the organization of meetings, debates, meetings and other similar activities.
Additionally, the association also hopes to “foster collaboration between universities, companies and the public administration”, as well as promote the “exchange of information and experiences between its members and other professionals and relevant entities in the maritime sector”.