STRONG SUPPORT
IAPMEI seeks to boost innovation and entrepreneurship as well as spur investment in enterprises, especially SMEs.
BIOGRAPHY
Jorge Marques dos Santos is the former President of IAPMEI. Prior to that, he was the President of the Portuguese Institute for Quality. He holds a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Porto and first began working in the private sector in 1974.What is your agency's role as a strategic partner in providing both technical and financial support to Portuguese enterprises?
IAPMEI is a public institution under the Ministry of Economy. Our role is to promote competitiveness and growth and ensure the best policies regarding industrial activity are in one place. The aim is to reinforce innovation and entrepreneurship as well as investment in enterprises, namely SMEs. In Portugal, micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises represent 99.9% of the economy, much higher than the European average. Micro enterprises employ less than 10 workers, and these comprise 96% of the Portuguese economy. The average number of employees is eight, and SMEs represent 80% of job employment and 63% of added value. This means we have to give SMEs a great deal of attention. Therefore, we pay attention to financial issues beyond normal banking activity with commercial entities. We are the financing partners of other means of financial support for SMEs other than commercial activity. That is mostly when there is a market failure. SMEs have difficulties getting to the market, so we have a system of mutual guarantees supported by the state and a set of financing activities with credit lines and supporting investments.
What steps do you take to devise the best policies to foster entrepreneurship and innovation for companies in the local business community and industry?
We are consulted for new legislation proposed by others than IAPMEI, and we pay special attention, concerning the potential impact taking into account SME characteristics. In terms of political support, we propose the creation of structural incentives for investment and lines of credit for certain activities to promote innovation, entrepreneurship, scaling up, or the concentration of companies. We also take into account the fact that we are the ones that manage the system of certification of SMEs, following the European rules for classifying. There are other ways in which we can offer assistance in addition to financing. One of the most important is providing management capabilities for entrepreneurs. We have an academy where we focus on training enterprises in terms of capacity and entrepreneurship. Another department promotes special support for the three enterprise cycles. We accompany the developments from the pre-start-up idea phase to the scale up process until they grow into a normal enterprise.
Could you tell us about your agency's strong representation in strategic clusters?
The clusters are one of the most important things we intend to give increased attention. Clusters have already been formally created in Portugal, and they can improve collaborative efficiency by bringing together companies' knowledge, academia, institutions, associations, and public entities. We already have 20 recognized clusters, and IAPMEI is in charge of formally recognizing them. Thse 20 clusters already involve 2,100 different associates, more than 1,800 SMEs, and many micro enterprises. Crucially, there are always other major players in these clusters that have a pulling effect. The aeronautics cluster is witnessing fantastic development in Portugal. We have been involved in the creation of a development of a project together with Brazil, implementing a new kind of airplane from Embraer. This company already has two factories in Portugal and is growing the different players in the cluster, be they technological centers or parts suppliers. Even universities that develop courses and prepare people for work are involved in it. The idea is that there is critical mass combining different actors, which will result in greater end results than if they were to work alone. Then, they are able to organize events, exchange ideas, and create projects where they can have special conditions for mutual support. One of our biggest hopes is that the implementation of clusters will help the development of the Portuguese economy and give us a greater economic advantage.
STRONG SUPPORT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Focus: Community of Portuguese Language Speaking Countries
Making an Impact
Established in 1996, the Community of Portuguese Language Speaking Countries (CPLP) is a mechanism geared at linking and sharing the experience of Lusophone countries. Besides Portugal, this includes Brazil, Portugal, Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, and São Tomé and Príncipe.
read articleFocus
Don’t Mind the Disruption
Having won the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest, Lisbon hosted the 2018 event. The relevance? Well, the contest began back in 1956 as a showcase not only of song, but of then-nascent live television broadcast technology. Today, Portugal is on the cutting edge of new technological developments.
read articleInterview
João Pedro Soeiro de Matos Fernandes , Minister , Environment and Energy Transition
The Ministry for the Environment and Energy Transition is focusing on decarbonizing the economy, valuing the territory and its habitats, and striving for a more circular use of the country's resources.
read articleInterview
António Braz Costa , General Manager, Portuguese Technological Centre for the Textile & Clothing Industries (CITEVE)
CITEVE has transformed the industry by promoting value addition, adopting the latest technologies, and ensuring the highest standards of environmental sustainability.
read articleFocus: New airport
Right Time to Seize Missed Opportunities
Portugal has seen its air traffic figures increase by as much as 80% in the last five years. As a result, its transportation infrastructure, and Lisbon's airport in particular, cannot cope with the rising numbers. A new airport project that will turn a military base into a commercial airport is now under discussion to bring much-needed relief to air traffic.
read articleInterview
Germano de Sousa , President, Grupo Germano de Sousa
Grupo Germano de Sousa's success can best be summed up by its understanding that science and medicine only really progress when technological development is combined with a deeper respect for human values and professional ethics.
read articleInterview
Isabel Capeloa Gil , Rector, Universidade Católica
Having pioneered the introduction of multiple subject areas to Portugal's tertiary education scene, Universidade Católica is aspiring to establish the country's first private medical school and introduce cutting-edge digital transformation.
read articleInterview
Carlos Guillén Gestoso , President, Escola Universitária de Ciências Empresariais, Saúde, Tecnologias e Engenharia & President, Atlantica University
Atlantica University differentiates through its company-university model and an MBA program in partnership with the University of California, Berkley, among other initiatives, to produce practical theoreticians.
read articleFocus: Public teaching staff
An Age-old Problem
Over a decade of austerity measures combined with an ageing population have seen the average age of the Portuguese public teaching staff progressively climb to one of the highest in the OECD. With frozen salaries, an extended retirement age, and precarious working conditions, today the sector faces one of its biggest challenge yet.
read articleInterview
Pedro Queiroz , General Manager, Federation of the Portuguese Agri-Food Industry (FIPA)
Portugal's economic recovery has seen its F&B sector emerge with annual turnovers of EUR16 billion, thanks to FIPA's undeterred focus on stable policies, excellent nutrition standards, and sustainability.
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