Portugal ‘is the place to live, invest, do business’

  • Lusa
  • 2 November 2021

The economy minister Pedro Siza Vieira believes that Portugal "is the place to live and invest" and do business.

The economy minister has argued that Portugal “is the place to live and invest” and do business, in a speech where he stressed that the country has not stood still in the climate and digital transition.

Pedro Siza Vieira was speaking at the opening of the Web Summit, which kicked off on Monday in Lisbon.

In his final message, the minister said: “I hope you enjoy the Web Summit, I hope you enjoy these precious days in Lisbon”.

But, “I hope you come back, I hope you talk to your friends and partners and tell them that Lisbon and Portugal is the place to live and invest, to do business” in a way that is “open, tolerant and multicultural,” he stressed.

Once again, the minister argued that “Portugal is a country where people come to invest” and live, stressing that it is one of the safest countries in the world, not only in terms of security, but also in terms of health, as it has the highest percentage of population with full vaccination against Covid-19.

During his speech, the minister stressed that Portugal has not stood still in the climate transition or in the digital transition.

“From January to September two-thirds of our electricity came from renewable sources” and in this way “we are also ensuring that the cost of electricity for” large consumers, “for industries and businesses is lower than it was before, this is the right way to progress, we have not stood still, we will accelerate in climate transition,” he continued.

“We have also made progress on the digital transition and this has been a great year for ‘startups’,” he said, pointing to an annual growth rate of 160% in the ability to raise investment.

He stressed that technology ‘startups’ have proved to be “the only thing that has kept” the economy “alive”, which shows “promise for the future”.

The Web Summit will take place between November 1 and 4 in Lisbon in face-to-face mode, after the last edition was ‘online’ and the organisation expects around 40,000 participants, according to Paddy Cosgrave, the summit’s executive chairman.

Comedian Amy Poehler, Microsoft president Brad Smith, European commissioner Margrethe Vestager and football player Gerard Pique will join more than 1,000 speakers, about 1,250 startups, 1,500 journalists and more than 700 investors, in a summit in which topics such as technology and society, among others, will be discussed, according to the organisation.

Despite the expected number of visitors being around 30,000 fewer this year than at the last in-person edition in 2019, officials consider it to be the “biggest event of 2021” to take place in Lisbon.