The increase in ‘telemigration’, which leads to an increase in international competition in the services sector, represents an “opportunity” for Portugal, defends economist Richard Baldwin, in an interview with Lusa, believing that ‘deglobalization’ is a myth.

The professor of international economics at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, where he is dedicated to the themes of globalization and trade, was in Sintra within the scope of the ECB Forum, to present a study in which he argues that economies At the beginning of the great transformation, caused by globalization and digitalization.

On the sidelines of Lusa, on the sidelines of the event, Richard Baldwin explained that Portugal could consider a European country with small economies, so this “is an opportunity”.

“It is essentially a necessity for young Portuguese people who have levels of training capacity, who do not need a university degree, to sell their services without moving out of the country”, he said.

For the contracting of services to associated third parties, which contribute to the increase in the supply of services to third parties, which helps workers from anywhere in the world to offer services at contracted prices, which are reduced to an international possibility. without the service sector.

“I think Portugal will really gain from this great agricultural opportunity [de serviços]”, said.

The former president of the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and editor-in-chief of the VoxEU portal believes that digital technology “is opening up the world of work in offices and service sectors to competition from abroad”, for countries with lower .

“I remember that when I wrote my book – I finished it in 2018, it came out in 2019 – I used to have to show people videos of what it was like to work from home. caused by the covid-19 pandemic, highlighting that it became possible to “work at home in remote teams and join them and everyone learned how to make it work”.

For Baldwin, more and more pressure on some of the staff or some of the people who were designed for even lower countries.

In this sense, the idea that we are witnessing a ‘deglobalization’ is rejected, considering it to be “a huge misunderstanding”.

“It is a discussion carried out by people who have a particular idea of ​​what globalization means”, he justifies, defending that “the intensity of trade in goods is actually decreasing or at least stagnant, but this is not happening in services”.

The economist emphasizes that ‘deglobalization’ is thus “a myth”.

However, admit that “globalization is changing and it is shifting from goods to services”.

It is also believed that this transformation, which is said to be structural, will be positive for emerging markets such as Brazil and African countries.

“I think the miracle of the emerging market will continue and expand. Africa will tend to provide for Europe and South America for Europe”, he adds, noting that this will occur not for the global value chains of goods, but for services.

Tuesday’s presentation at the ECB’s annual Baldwin forum, the fast work in the sector, will not compete with the services of the sector, which previously would not defend with the “collar robots” or “collar robots”.

In this case, we add, the ongoing structural change that will improve the policy, as prices and prices of exposures to telemigration and automation can be provided to all precedents.

The ECB Forum, this year dedicated to the challenges for economic policy in a fast-paced world, started on Monday afternoon and ends today.

After two years carried out by telematic means due to the pandemic, the three-day ‘summit’ returned to Sintra in person, as in previous years.

This year’s theme has been changed to reflect recent global developments and the challenges’ summit debate that the eurozone economy is currently facing.