"Portugal has an economic situation that is more advantageous than the average of the European Union," highlighted Luís Montenegro, in the speech he made during the presentation of a €400 million investment in the Aljustrel mine, in the district of Beja.

Financial health

And he continued: "Portugal has a financial health that, don't be ashamed to tell anyone, because it's really true, makes any economy in the European Union blush with envy."

"There isn't a single one that can say it's doing better than us," said Luís Montenegro, but "there are some that are doing as well as we are," he stressed, considering that Portugal is "at the forefront" of Europe in financial and economic terms.

Courage to change

With the Ministers of Economy and Territorial Cohesion and of Environment and Energy in the audience, the Prime Minister argued that the country “must have the courage to change some things and to face, often, the voices of pessimism and the reticence of those who do not dare.”

Portugal “often has to face the immobility of those who pretend they want to change many things, but, at the end of the day, want everything to stay the same and everything in the same place,” he stressed.

In a 25-minute speech, the head of government responded to the chairman of the board of directors of the company holding the concession for the Aljustrel mine, Humberto Costa Leite, who, in his intervention, asked for less bureaucracy in the processes.

Geological resources strategy

“We are advancing in a strategy for geological resources that has as its cornerstone administrative simplification,” he pointed out, stressing that the objective is to have “greater coordination between all actors.”

Montenegro argued that processes need to become "fast and agile" so that "the decision-maker can have all the elements and the reliability of the investment they make," whether in prospecting or later in project development.

"When they have to say no, they should say no as early as possible, and when they have to say yes, they should also say yes as early as possible," he said.

The Prime Minister reiterated that the Government has declared "war on bureaucracy and excessive regulation," as well as on people who "think that their department is the only one that exists and on those who think that the interest of their department prevails over the general interest."

"We declare war on all of that, including within the Government, the Government structures, and the public administration building, and those in public administration who do not understand this will be sidelined," he added.