Statue of D. Afonso Henriques, in Guimarães
Castro Almeida told the story of a “rebellious and enterprising young prince” who had talent, ambition, a project and “a clear vision of the future”.
The Minister of Economy and Territorial Cohesion considered, at the end of the Web Summit, Afonso Henriques as “the first entrepreneur” of Portugal and that the navigators of the 15th and 16th centuries led globalization.
In his intervention, Manuel Castro Almeida began by telling the story of a “rebellious and enterprising young prince” called Afonso Henriques, that had talent, ambition, project and “a clear vision of the future“.
“I was 34 years old when the sovereign state Portugal was created, our first king was also our first entrepreneur“, highlighted the governor.
Eight centuries later “here we are, today and always”, he added, recalling the “great maritime adventure” of the Discoveries.
“Portugal is a country in transformation, it innovates, designs, builds, advances and exports”, he continued, noting that the country may be small on land, but it is immense at sea.
The minister argued that the country is the ideal stage for invest e create projects.
“Portugal is a country where you can work with motivation and pleasure and where talent is celebrated, effort valued and merit recognized”, he highlighted.
“In this week of the Web Summit, Portugal’s relevant position in artificial intelligence becomes increasingly evident [IA], with the announcement of massive investments”, he said, citing “just two examples, the investment of 8.5 billion euros in Sines, on the initiative of Start Campus, and the recent investment by Microsoft of 10 billion euros” during the technological event.
A Innovation in Portugal “is not a privilege of big cities”pointed out the government official, who left an appeal to entrepreneurs to invest and live in the country.
This year’s edition of the Web Summit, a technology summit that kicked off in Lisbon in 2016, ended this Thursday.
