Prime Minister Luís Montenegro has described Portugal as a country that “is in fashion” and is catching the attention of countries across the globe.
Speaking at the launch of the Digital Business Wallet (Carteira Digital da Empresa) at the Palácio da Bolsa, in Porto, Montenegro said Portugal is “doing well economically, financially and politically” and that this has not gone unnoticed abroad.
“We are in a good moment, we are in fashion in a way, we really are. Europe looks at us, looks at our companies, looks at our human resources, especially the younger and more qualified ones. Europe and the world look at our aptitude for technologies, our location, our security, and our strategy in key areas such as energy and water,” he said at the event, also attended by the ministers of Justice, Economy and State Reform.
“It is a country with international credibility that perhaps we do not fully realise internally, at least not in the dimension in which this effect is being felt and translated externally. But it is a country with high competitiveness factors that make it increasingly attractive,” he said.
The prime minister also stressed that Portugal is ahead in several areas that help it stand out when it comes to attracting investment. These investments, he said, can support economic ecosystems across different sectors and play a key role in retaining and attracting talent.
Montenegro said he will not give up on his plan “to go further and to do more” for the country, and added that ambition must come with “responsibility, realism, confidence and the ability to transform.”
As an example, he recalled that the government has invested “in more worker-friendly taxation and more business-friendly taxation, and in the fight against bureaucracy”.
He also said the government wants to invest in more flexibility in the labour market. Without undermining core workers’ rights, this flexibility should encourage companies to take more risks, hire more people, become more profitable, pay better wages and increase investment, he said.
“And the effect we want is that in a few years we will be growing at double the rate we grow today, and that in a few years our wages, especially the average wage, which is our focus, can reach the level of the best in Europe. Yes, there are conditions for that,” he said.
From this Monday onwards, business owners can access documents such as the Company Card and contribution status through the Digital Business Wallet, which works via an extension of the gov.pt app.
In its first phase, the Digital Business Wallet will include the Company Card, the Social Security Contribution Status Document, the Tax Status Document from the Tax Authority, and the Central Register of Beneficial Ownership.
The PM’s statements came on the same day that Saudi investors completed a week-long trip to Portugal, which they consider a “diamond in Europe” and where they identified several investment opportunities, particularly in housing and tourism.
The country has in fact attracted increased international interest in recent months, even being considered the “Economy of the Year” in 2025 by The Economist.
