At the final conference of the sixth Portugal-Mozambique summit held today in Porto, Luís Montenegro was asked about his willingness to reconsider the labor package two days before the general strike, but he declined to comment directly on the topic, deferring it for “other opportunities” during the week.
“For now, I only want to reiterate that we remain highly focused on seizing every occasion and opportunity to strengthen Portugal’s competitiveness so that its economy can become increasingly solid, consistent, and robust,” he stated.
The head of the Government emphasized that this approach is crucial for creating “new opportunities and professional and salary valorizations for Portuguese workers,” and highlighted the potential for the national economy to “gain international recognition,” specifically citing the distinction by “The Economist” magazine.
In his initial remarks at the end of the summit, Montenegro had already pointed out the “fortunate coincidence” of this summit aligning with Portugal being recognized as “the economy of the year among the world’s 36 most dynamic economies.”
“This fact is quite impressive in itself and is based on the path that Portuguese society, workers, companies, and institutions have been paving,” he said.
Montenegro also attributed this recognition to the Government’s financial responsibility, which he said balances “balanced public accounts with economic stimuli,” alluding to a “virtuous triangle” of public policies that include taxation, state reform, and labor legislation.
“The activation of a labor market that induces not only productivity and competitiveness but also salary valorization and real and effective wage increases (…) The economy will be more productive and competitive, and thus more recognized internally and externally, the greater its human capital and all that it can bring in terms of innovation, research, entrepreneurial ability, and productive capacity,” he argued.
