Not the time measured by the clock, but the time we all lose without realizing it: the time that a company waits for a license, that an investor waits for a decision, that a family loses in administrative processes or that a young professional waits to build a life project.

For decades we have become accustomed to measuring competitiveness through taxes, wages, infrastructure or the cost of energy. All of these factors continue to be important. But there is a resource that has become even more valuable: time.

We live in a global economy where opportunities come and go with unprecedented speed. Companies plan investments in artificial intelligence, data centres, energy, advanced industry or biotechnology in a highly competitive environment, where different countries compete for the same projects. In this competition, the difference between winning or losing an investment is not always in the cost. It is in the ability to decide.

Portugal today has extraordinary conditions to compete in this new economy. It has political stability, security, highly skilled talent, a strategic location across continents, growing digital infrastructures and one of the largest renewable energy developments in Europe. In recent years, we have seen the arrival of large international investments in technology, data centres, artificial intelligence and clean energy. All this shows that the world believes in Portugal.

But believing in Portugal is not enough: it is necessary to be able to execute at the pace of opportunities. Perhaps this is where the biggest challenge of the next decade lies.

When a licensing takes years, we do not just waste administrative time. We lose productivity. We have lost competitiveness. We lost jobs. We lost innovation. And many times, we lose investments that simply choose another destination.

The same happens when a court decision lasts for years or when companies and citizens live in permanent uncertainty about when a process will be concluded.

The invisible cost of time is enormous and, interestingly, almost never appears in the statistics. There is no line in the State Budget called "lost time", nor a monthly indicator that accounts for postponed opportunities. But this cost is present in practically all economic decisions.

Each month of delay represents fixed capital.

Each stalled project represents wealth that has not yet been created.

Each postponed decision reduces the confidence of those who want to invest, undertake or simply build a life in Portugal.

Perhaps that is why one of the most interesting ideas of the study I recently read is precisely the need to put compliance with deadlines and institutional predictability at the centre of State reform. Not as an administrative issue, but as an economic priority.

Because a competitive country is not just one that offers good incentives.

It is the one that respects people's time.

This change in perspective seems small, but in reality, it changes everything: for a long time we asked how to attract more investment; Perhaps we should start by asking how to make each investment move faster. For years we have discussed how to simplify procedures; Perhaps the real objective should be simpler: to give time back to the Portuguese.

Because time means productivity, trust, growth, quality of life and respect: respect for those who undertake, for those who work, for those who invest and for those who expect institutions to work with the same efficiency that we demand from companies today.

Portugal has already demonstrated that it can compete with the best in talent, innovation, technology and quality of life. Perhaps the time has come to compete also in what will be the most valuable asset of the next economy: time.

Because there are investments that wait.

But there are opportunities that do not.