Portuguese competitiveness
<h>Government and business</h> must work together to achieve competitiveness goals, according to the President of Portucel SGPS and winner of a "Best of European Business" award. This column war first published in Portuguese in Semanário Económico on October 21, 2005. Strategic complicity – a clever option This week I attended the Best of European Business awards. The initiative launched by Roland Berger and Financial Times rewards the companies that most distinguish themselves in terms of economic growth, value creation and innovation. Congratulations to the award winners and to the initiative. The initiative has shown that despite some strong performers, the targets set out in the Lisbon Agenda are almost impossible to achieve. Its ambitious vision has not been implemented, basically because Europe is growing a lot more slowly than the US. But let's not dwell on obstacles to success. The European Union is the world's largest economic zone and is still world leader in several key industries (but for how much longer?). And the EU remains strong in the realm of innovation – 9 of the EU-15 countries are among the top 15 worldwide. It is also worth mentioning that some industries in Portugal perform rather well compared to their European peers, namely construction, banking, automotive components, energy, water, pulp and paper, and cork – and who knows, there are perhaps even others. | ||
António Bernardo, Member of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants' Executive Committee, made an impressive effort to inspire confidence in an audience of top managers and entrepreneurs tired of doomsday scenarios and the volatility of government policies. While I am well aware of the difficulties the European economy and the Portuguese economy in particular are facing, I believe that with a well-defined strategy and a government that implements the necessary actions, we can, after the necessary sacrifices have been made, catch up and resume the convergence path with the EU. The recently presented budget is reason for confidence. Angel Corcóstegui made the most educational contribution to the event. The President of the Roland Berger Advisory Board has been actively involved in the concentration process among Spanish banks. He outlined how our Spanish neighbors managed to transform their business structure. In his presentation, he showed how a fairly small economy (20.4% of Germany's GDP) has reached the goals it set itself 20 years ago. And the country pulled off the trick although its companies had hardly any international presence, and suffered from regulated and inflexible markets. This is why today, there are Spanish companies with an international footprint that are competitive and work efficiently. In a nutshell: "An open, highly dynamic and competitive Spanish market" has been created. What exactly did Spain do to achieve this? Almost exactly what we have been promoting and putting into practice for the last 20 years: | ||
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Angel Corcóstegui did not mince words in pointing out the key success factor: "The close synchronization of all key players in the economy" - entrepreneurs, politicians and other players such as unions, regulators, universities and the media. The result is clear: Spain has the number one financial institution in the Eurozone that ranks ninth in the world (Banco Santander) and the third largest bank in the Euro Stoxx 50 index in terms of market capitalization (BBVA). It boast one of the leading infrastructure groups in terms of profitability and market capitalization (Ferrovial), and several energy champions of international dimension (Endesa, Iberdrola, Gas Natural,..). On top of this cooperation strategy, we have to consider the strong internationalization incentives available to Spanish companies that our successive governments have been ignoring. Examples include the options of fiscal consolidation of subsidiaries in other countries and the deduction of acquisitions goodwill from the tax base. So the question is: Will we continue to waste opportunities by encouraging individualism and the "politics of pessimism"? For the good of the economy and the well-being of the Portuguese people, I certainly hope not. Jorge Armindo President Portucel SGPS If you have questions or comments regarding this story, please do not hesitate to contact us: | ||
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