Lisbon, Feb. 22, 2021 (Lusa) – The Confederation of Portuguese Business (CIP) wants the European Union to start "a new path in the process of reindustrialisation" based on the cohesion of the 27 to compete with other economic blocs, such as Asia and the United States.

The President of the CIP, António Saraiva, said he was "pleased" with the initiative of Industry Days, an event that begins Tuesday and involves various stakeholders from across Europe in a reflection on the future of industry in the EU bloc.

He stressed that, with the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic, the European Union "woke up painfully" to the "enormous dependence on certain global supply chains", particularly in Asia, which it had "wrongly fed over the last few years".

"I can see with good eyes that finally the European leaders, awake to this reality, make a reflection that moves towards the reindustrialisation of Europe. And Portugal, as a [EU] member state, cannot fail to follow this objective", he considered.

In order for the 27 to start "a new path in this process of industrialization", it is necessary to take "concrete and objective actions, with well defined strategies", António Saraiva pointed out, stressing that reindustrialization cannot be confused with the return to the industry of the past.

"Reindustrialisation is not about doing more than what we used to do. Reindustrialisation is looking at the current world, seeing the competitiveness factors that we have today in a global economy, and improving in each country 'per se' those same factors, focusing on strategic sectors, incorporating the qualification and requalification of our human resources, focusing on traditional sectors and modernising them to the logic of digitalisation, and resuming the Industry 4.0 programme," he argued.

The Industry 4.0 programme seeks to respond to the challenges of technologies in production systems and business models, incorporating those same technologies in industry, by interconnecting machines and production systems and equipment so that companies can create intelligent networks throughout the value chain and thus control production processes independently.

Faced with "global competitiveness, climate challenges and the digital and energy transition in which the world today is committed", he says it is necessary to "reposition Portugal" in an industrial framework based on an improvement and development of traditional sectors and a focus on new sectors and services, allowing its development as a "country attractive to foreign investment", "improving taxation and reducing bureaucracy".

Therefore, "traditional sectors have to be modernised, focusing on innovation, re-qualification and qualification of human resources, promoting business mergers and concentrations," so that it is possible to enter this "battle of internationalisation" of industry, he argued, adding that this "strategic plan should be accompanied by an action plan" whose discussion should involve social partners and companies.

For António Saraiva, it is true that globalisation has brought challenges to industry, but he defends that this should be seen "as an opportunity" to "learn from some negative practices that were committed in the past and that cannot be repeated".

In this sense, he calls for "a common development strategy for the European Union" to allow "better competitiveness with the other economic blocks" such as Asia and the United States.

This strategy should be based on "sharing competences in a cohesive and harmonious economic block, and not fighting amongst themselves like a hydra with 27 heads that seek their own interests in a lack of cohesion of effort in this and that area of development", he argued.

The 4th edition of the EU Industry Days takes place from Tuesday to Friday and will be held in a virtual format. This event will promote an inclusive dialogue on the challenges and opportunities facing industry in view of the dual transition, green and digital, and the changing global competitive landscape.

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