Despite spats in parliament, Portugal’s current wave of “success” when it comes to initiatives to attract foreign investment will be hoping for friendly reception in Davos this week.
Público reports that prime minister António Costa is on his way to the 47th World Summit at the Swiss ski resort, and his mission is simple: to continue selling Portugal and reeling in the euros.
A bit like his message in India last week (click here), Costa will be “defending that Portugal is safe country” with a government that is “stable in its economic policies” and has already reached some of its economic objectives.
Beyond success in the tourism sector, Público says Costa is expected to push the “fact that Portugal is one of the safest countries” when it comes to public safety. And then there is the issue of the national deficit, which this year “should not be higher than 2.3%.
“In other words” explains the paper, “below what was forecast by international institutions like the European Community”.
Costa is expected to take part in “various meetings, always behind closed doors”, from this afternoon until Thursday.
Also taking part in the talks are UN secretary-general António Guterres, minister for the economy Manuel Caldeira Cabral and Portuguese banker and president of Lloyds, António Horta Osório.
Davos is described as “a gathering of the world’s business leaders, economists, politicians and a smattering of celebrities” (Telegraph) to “share their concerns about the challenges that humanity is facing and to discuss how to cope with them” (AFP).
This year’s conference, which is much more a series of meetings and “discreet dinners and lunches” (Telegraph), will be particularly diverse as almost a third of the 3000 participants from 100 countries will be outside the spheres of business and government.
This is also the first year the forum will be attended by a Chinese head of state.
