A group of members from Volt Portugal met for around three hours with the general director of Centimfe – Technological Center for the Mold, Special Tools and Plastics Industry, Rui Tocha, in Marinha Grande, Leiria district.
“It is very important for all parties, especially for the PS and PSD, which are the parties at the forefront of governance, to understand that we will not be able to improve our lives if we do not have a clear investment in Portuguese companies and industry” , Inês Bravo Figueiredo took over.
According to him, “a clear investment” is necessary to “support the industry to take the leap into the industry of the future”.
“This starts in these technological and industrial centers, where we need to put many more resources”, he highlighted.
Inês Bravo Figueiredo states that not only “European resources are needed, but also national resources”.
“We want to simplify what bureaucracy is in public administration, because what many companies point out as the main difficulties for their growth is the fact that the processes are very slow”, he revealed.
Therefore, “it is not possible to capture investment opportunities”, he warned.
“For us, it is necessary to start now with a simplex 2.0 plan, using artificial intelligence to simplify processes and use regulation to improve our lives and not as an impediment to our development”, added Inês Bravo Figueiredo.
After a brief visit to the technology center, the candidate stated that what she saw “is a great source of pride”.
“Portugal needs much more of this. We have many very good companies, but they are having difficulty making the leap and these technological centers could be the institutions that will allow them to make that leap, because they come with technical skills and a lot of knowledge”, he considered.
For the head of the Volt Portugal list, these technological centers also have “’know how’ on how to capture customers and financing, which, perhaps, is missing, which could be transformative for the Portuguese economy”.
Inês Bravo Figueiredo also defended the need to start developing future industries in Portugal in the area of the health ‘cluster’.
“To remain competitive over the next 10, 20 years, we will need to start developing skills for the industries of the future now. Healthcare will be one of the industries of the future. We know that there is a lot to do, which can bring and create a lot of wealth in Portugal”, she highlighted.
The candidate also considered that “it makes perfect sense to start, and continue, investing in this as one of the industries of the future for Portugal”, as well as “the blue industry and the climate transition”.
Among Volt Portugal’s proposals are, in this sense, “investment in these ‘clusters’ and investment in infrastructure”. “We have chronic disinvestment in infrastructure in Portugal. THE OECD [Organização para a Cooperação e Desenvolvimento] recommends 5% of GDP [Produto Interno Bruto] and we are way below that. We recommend tax benefits for innovative companies that pay above-average salaries, to start encouraging companies to take the leap now,” she revealed.
More than 10.8 million Portuguese people are called to vote on March 10 to elect 230 deputies to the Assembly of the Republic.
18 political forces, 15 parties and three coalitions are competing in these elections.
EYC // PC
