Speech by His Excellency, Mr. Jorge Sampaio, President of the Portuguese Republic, at the Opening Session on the Luso-Latvian Economic Seminar

Lisbon
15 de Setembro de 2004


I was very pleased to accept the invitation to take part in the opening session of this Luso-Latvian Economic Seminar as an opportunity to underline the importance I attach to the development of trade relations between Portugal and Latvia. The presence here today of Her Excellency President Vaira-Vike-Freiberga in my view also illustrates her commitment to increasing the economic relations between our two countries.

You may well recall my State visit to Latvia in May 2003, particularly as some of you here today accompanied me as members of the Business Delegation. One of the core aims of that visit was to promote bilateral economic relations, a concern and purpose that are also shared by the Latvians. That is why on that occasion a meeting was arranged between Portuguese and Latvian entrepreneurs, when the first contacts were established. I know that for many it was an exploratory venture of the mutual business opportunities and an assessment of the respective markets.

I am pleased to see that such contacts did not fall by the wayside and that the initial work of those days will be completed today with another step forward, as we take our turn now to receive Latvian businessmen in Lisbon. I would like to welcome you most warmly to our country. I hope that this seminar will be an opportunity to improve reciprocal knowledge and identify ways and means of developing our economic co-operation.

It is a well-known fact that since the last 1st May we have become partners in the European Union. We are now a community, we share common values and principles, we have a single market and belong to the same economic area. At bilateral level we maintain excellent political relations and regular contacts.

Nevertheless, we must acknowledge that results so far in terms of trade relations, economic co-operation and investments fall far short of expectations.

Our balance of trade is so minute I will not even venture any figures, whilst direct foreign investment is non-existent. Only tourism shows a positive and promising growth.

Now, it seems to me that this situation does not reflect the actual potential nor does it correspond to the standard of relations that should exist between two members of the European Union. If I may employ a metaphor, I would say that our relations are still a leftover from the ancien regime. They must be redrafted in the light of the new context created by a Europe of Twenty-Five. Taking advantage of the greater stability and foreseeability of the reference frameworks of economic exchanges and the dynamics arising from the integration of our markets, we must concentrate on innovative projects that enhance our resources and potentialities.

Latvia’s GDP has a growth rate that is much higher than the European average (6% for 2004 according to available estimates), an expanding dynamic economy and increased internal demand, and it is therefore a covetable market. In turn, Portugal has a wide range of sectors and services with a very good quality-price ratio. This is the case, for instance, of textiles, footwear and clothing, building materials, some consumer goods and tourism. It is now a question, then, of Portuguese and Latvian businessmen achieving greater penetration of their reciprocal markets.

Latvia’s full integration in the European Union opens new perspectives whilst making the existing ones more attractive. In this regard, we should not forget the role of financial aid for development within the framework of economic and social cohesion. Portugal is well aware of how decisive Community supports and programmes are in some areas. Here, too, we should explore complementarities, develop partnership projects, take advantage of synergies between our respective sectors of excellence, and enhance our opportunities for co-operation investments which, whilst sharing the risk, also make use of the potential for development of some products and services.

Today, economic relations are the great driving force behind the development of co-operation between countries. In this area, businessmen have an undeniable role to play and I therefore hope that this seminar will help identify areas where trade exchanges can be increased or investments made to create an increasingly articulated common European space.

I wish you all a fruitful work here and hope that this meeting will outline ways of increasing economic co-operation between Portugal and Latvia. May it also contribute to increasing cohesion in the heart of the European Union to which both countries belong.