In Portugal, the business fabric is mostly made up of small and medium-sized companies (SMEs), where export activity represented in 2022 around 50% of the national GDP. Opening up abroad to Portuguese goods and services will be one of the essential conditions for the sustained recovery of economic activity. In the current context, SMEs cannot fail to restart their planning on a daily basis, very close to the accelerated and unstoppable technological evolution, and not just manage the short term. As they adapt to the ever-changing new reality, they have to make decisions about how they can streamline in almost instantaneous terms or even renew their business. Having said that, the Portuguese business fabric will always have in mind the imperative of strengthening the foundations of its businesses and investing in digitalization to survive in the new evolutionary landscape that is increasingly exogenous and uncertain. The business universe that was known until the pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, responsible for the Covid-19 disease, made it clear that each country will only be able to respond to future pandemics, which will certainly exist, with a convergent global behavior between the companies of the different countries, stimulating what is best in each one. Portuguese companies are, since then, inserted in a kind of new economy, which is faster and which is expected to become almost entirely virtual. The Portuguese development model in a global economy has to be based on qualifications, on the skills of the work factor, therefore, on innovation, and on retaining talent. However, these aspirations imply a new and demanding decision-making posture on the part of our political decision-makers. From the outset, the option is unequivocally based on an economy where the behavior of the markets, internal and external, prevails, where decisions are taken by entrepreneurs in a climate of macroeconomic stability. Preparing supply chains, diversifying the supplier portfolio, maintaining cash flows and liquidity, structuring companies' internal communication, expanding digital cooperation, preserving and strengthening customer loyalty, and reinforcing cybersecurity in organizations, public or private, are examples of tools that will allow teams to work in a safe, stable and productive way. It is essential to have adapted digital pillars so that companies can remain in business and, therefore, survive now and prosper in the future. These topics will be, among others, the color of guest presentations and debate with the audience.
Speakers:
Luís Miguel Ribeiro
President of AEP – Business Association of Portugal
Chamber of Commerce and Industry
José Eduardo Carvalho
Chairman of the Board and Executive Committee of AIP – Associação Industrial Portuguesa and of the Executive Committee of CCI – Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Moderators:
Sérgio Pontes
Antonio Duarte Santos