The Web Summit will likely stay in Portugal, according to Ana Lehmann
The Industry State secretary is confident that the event will continue being organized in Portugal after 2018. The President said that everything had to be done to keep the Web Summit in Portugal.
The State secretary for the Industry Ana Lehmann restated the desire to keep the Web Summit in Portugal, mentioning that the organizing committee “is getting increasingly more convinced”. According to the current agreement, the event will remain in Portugal until 2018, but the Government wants the agreement to be extended until 2020.
“I believe the Web Summit’s organizing committee is getting increasingly more convinced that it is a good idea to stay in Portugal for a few more years, but we must await their final decision“, stated Ana Lehmann on the Portuguese TV channel SIC Notícias. Ana Lehmann wants the event to remain in Portugal until 2020, arguing that Portugal “justifies itself” as a winning destination for the Web Summit: safety, infrastructures, quality of life, a “vibrant” ecosystem and good conditions for foreigners are the main arguments.
Last week, along with 150 Portuguese startups that belong to the Road2WebSummit programme, the President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa had requested that the event stayed in Portugal: “We must do everything in our power to assure the Web Summit stays in Portugal”.
"I believe the Web Summit’s organizing committee is getting increasingly more convinced that it is a good idea to stay in Portugal for a few more years, but we must await their final decision.”
When asked about the failure rates of startups, Ana Lehmann classified the phenomenon as “normal”. However, the State secretary assures the Government is working on increasing the success of these businesses, by promoting the scalability and internationalization of startups and giving them a competitive edge.
Ana Lehmann assures that an agreement on “the entrance of two large networks of support to startups’ scalability” has been almost finalized. In addition, the State secretary wants to reinforce the connection of large companies and large investors to startups. “During the Web Summit, I will be connecting big companies with startups“, she stated, mentioning that such a connection will likely increase startups’ ability to survive.
