A study by Deloitte’s has found some positives in post-pandemic Portugal – and shows hope among CEOs for economic growth in 2021.
‘Portugal 20/21: Reshaping the Future’ traces the upside of the “sudden changes” that have transformed our everyday.
The ‘lower touch economy’ (meaning the headlong dive into digitalisation) has seen an unprecedented change in behaviours.
Explains interim EDP CEO Miguel Stilwell d’Andrade, many consumers have made their first online purchases during the pandemic. Businesses have increasingly moved online. “There has been a transition from the offline world to the online which in normal conditions would have taken years to achieve”, he said.
There has also been a ‘return of the 90s’ in terms seeking ‘alternative solutions’ – and focus on sourcing local products, and ‘sustainability’.
Pedro Cid, director general of Auchan Retail Portugal, has described how his grocery giant is now “seeking every day to implement solutions that allow consumers to make more considered conscious choices”. To this end between January and June, Auchan purchased 3,690 tons of produce from local suppliers . “a growth of 21.2% compared to the year before”.
And because sustainability is an imperative, governments too are ‘recognising the times’ – the ‘funding’ coming from Europe is a “unique opportunity to make our economy and society more resilient and inclusive” says Miguel Stilwell d’Andrade.
Says Expresso, despite the fact that 88% of company CEO’s believe business will be ‘bad, very bad’ over the next three months, almost 56% of them have faith that the Portuguese economy will grow in 2021. Indeed 35% think it will grow ‘at a rate superior to 3%’.
