CCP Portugal tends to “devalue trade and services”
“ANDn Portugal, historically we have had, at times, a certain tendency to devalue the sectors of commerce and services, which in terms of employment, GDP [Produto Interno Bruto] and the value attributed are, increasingly, essential in terms of the evolution of the economy”, stated João Vieira Lopes, in Lisbon, in the presentation of two initiatives of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).
The Government presented today as Digital Commercial Neighborhoods and Digital Commerce Accelerators initiatives, which are included in the PRR.
The global endowment of these investments exceeds 100 million euros and is intended to promote and support the incorporation of technology into companies’ business models, “combining them, in the case of Digital Commercial Districts, with a clear investment in examples of proximity , commercial urbanism and the digitization of the consumption experience”.
The Digital Commerce Accelerators are intended to support the digital transition of companies, “assessing their stage of maturity and proposing an action plan”, which will be accompanied by the financing of digital services, according to information disclosed by the executive.
João Vieira Lopes recalls that a CCP had “some concerns” regarding the PRR, namely regarding the ratio of public and private investment of companies.
“We were concerned because the three fundamental areas for companies – investment and innovation, competence and skills and 4.0 companies – represent only 24% of the non-repayable funds”, he added.
However, the president of the CCP highlighted that the fact that initiatives today encourage joint work between business associations and local authorities appears to be “extremely valid”.
According to the official, for many years, as local authorities, they dedicated themselves to building infrastructures that Portugal did not have, while business associations play an important role in the training and qualification of people.
João Vieira Lopes also defended that the Digital Neighborhoods initiative is “well structured”, based on a “realistic diagnosis” of the impact of the covid-19 pandemic in the sector.
As for the accelerator project, he knows some doubts, stressing that this work cannot be just “a catalog”.
The Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), which has an execution period until 2026, intends to implement a set of reforms and investments with a view to recovering economic growth. In addition to having the objective of repairing the damage caused by covid-19, this plan also aims to support investments and generate employment.
The total allocation of the PRR exceeds 16,600 million euros, distributed among its three structural dimensions – resilience (11,125 million euros), climate changeover (3,059 million euros) and digital transition (2,460 million euros).
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