Visit to Euronaval involves meetings with Portuguese companies
Portugal’s defence minister Nuno Melo visited Euronaval – one of the world’s largest defence fairs – in Paris yesterday. He was there to discuss the modernisation of the Arsenal do Alfeite shipyards – which he has described as “technically bankrupt” – and meet with his French counterpart, writes Lusa.
According to information released by the government, Melo visited the fair “with defence industries and the future of the Arsenal do Alfeite on the agenda”.
The minister was accompanied by chairman of the Alfeite board Bernardo Soares and executive member Francisco Rebocho Antunes, as well as Chief of Staff of the Navy, Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo and the Assistant Secretary of State for National Defence, Álvaro Castello-Branco.
Lusa describes Melo as also meeting with Portuguese businessmen and praising “the capacity and technology of national companies and their contribution to the development of defence industries”.
According to a statement from the ministry, Melo visited the Portuguese pavilion “and learnt about the models available on the market”.
At the end of the visit, Nuno Melo met with his counterpart, Sébastien Lecornu, France’s Minister of the Armed Forces.
According to the ministry, the two politicians “discussed strengthening bilateral cooperation” between Portugal and France in Defence industries.
Eleven Portuguese companies are represented at Euronaval, which runs until Thursday, including Tekever, Thales Edisoft, EID, Blue Oasis, Beyond Composite, Oceanscan, Vera Navis, Lusospace, Meditor, Ricardo Barbosa, and Beyond Vision. These companies are responsible for producing drones, unmanned underwater vehicles, communications and systems integration systems, moulds, high-precision tools, naval architecture, and naval engineering.
On October 29, at a hearing in parliament, Nuno Melo admitted said that the Arsenal do Alfeite’s corporate model has to be rethought, stressing that if it remains a reclassified public company, it will not be able to solve its current problems.
Arsenal do Alfeite “really has to be saved, but it has to be saved in a challenging situation”, he said – emphasising that its infrastructure is obsolete, “designed for the last century” and unsuited for a Navy in the 21st century.
Arsenal do Alfeite’s financial problems are endemic. Workers have had to suffer delays in salary payments and Christmas bonuses, yet they are responsible for repairing and maintaining all the vessels in the Portuguese Navy (a number of which have equally suffered technical problems…) Thus, it could well be that part of the trip yesterday was focused on identifying a possible ‘deal’ to ensure employees jobs are safeguarded.
Source material: LUSA
