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The Portuguese Government is paying attention to the demands of the Portuguese textile and clothing industry (TCI), which has gained the trust of the political leaders for the way it handled the global crisis that stemmed from the Asian countries’ membership to the WTO.
The guaranteed was made by the minister of Economy, Pedro Siza Vieira, at the opening of the XXI Fórum Têxtil, promoted by the ATP, which gathered around 400 entrepreneurs and directors at CITEVE’S auditorium, in Famalicão.
“The Portuguese TCI was able to come out on top, moving up in the value chain and focusing on innovation, on consumers and customer service. Textiles are an example that should be followed by all the economy’s other sectors”, praised the minister, who also heard the president of ATP, Mário Jorge Machado, present the tender specifications of the sector. “Textiles should be supported and fostered. Access to capital is still hard, energy and environmental costs are a negative factor. We are at the beginning of a new legislature, and reforms of the fiscal system and on labour law flexibility are urgent”, alerts Mário Jorge Machado.
At the finishing line of a very long growth period, over 10 years running, the ranks of the fashion industry are about to enter a new paradigm, at a time when bilateralism is replacing multilateralism, and consumers are guided by a new set of values based on the respect for the environment (reduce, reuse, recycle) – stated ATP’s General Manager, Paulo Vaz, adding that technical skill, design, technology, internationalization and sustainability are the new drives for development.
Providing a glimpse of 2025, Paulo Vaz set forth a scenario where the Portuguese TCI would, hypothetically, be made up of around four thousand companies, where 110 thousand workers toil for an overall business volume of eight billion euro, of which six billion will be made from exports, enabling a favourable external commercial balance of one billion in the sector.