Education, Health, Digitalization and Sustainability stand out as strategic pillars for the country’s recovery

 

Last Monday, the ReImaginar Portugal conference organized by the Alumni Club of The Lisbon MBA took place. A group of decision makers from various areas were invited and brought together to debate the economic and social reconstruction of the country in face of the new economic and social situation created by the pandemic.

 

During the conference, several proposals and measures were discussed to resolve the structural problems and sustain the economic recovery, necessary to increase Portugal’s productivity and contribute to overcoming the deep crisis that shook the fundamental pillars of society in these last months.

 

Important and relevant personalities of the Portuguese society and academic world where invited. Carlos Moedas, former European commissioner and current Administrator of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Professor António Costa e Silva, author of the Strategic Vision for the Economic Recovery Plan of Portugal 2020-2030, Daniel Traça, Dean of Nova SBE, Filipe Santos, Dean of Católica-Lisbon, Cristina Campos, president of the Alumni Club of The Lisbon MBA and president of the Novartis Portugal Group and Maria José Amich, executive director of The Lisbon MBA.

 

Cristina Campos, President of the Alumni Club presented and stressed the importance and quality of the contributions of the academic community and former students of The Lisbon MBA from various quarters of society in the frame work of ReImaginar Portugal initiative, with strategies and ideas for the reconstruction of the country.

 

Among the key ideas for the revitalization of the several sectors, we highlight the investment in the energy transition, in the restructuring of tourism, and in the reindustrialization supported by innovation. The importance of talent and the continuous requalification and training of human resources to increase productivity, and a knowledge economy as a competitive advantage, are also part of the proposals. As were the focus on the digital transformation for the national companies and State network, with telecom infrastructure and technology as the engine of change.

 

Carlos Moedas stated the importance of the MBA programs in the context of providers of knowledge and talent to change the country and the world, highlighting national talent and the reinforcement in the requalification of human capital, as competitive advantages. He brilliantly highlighted three great tensions in which we currently live, namely between the physical and digital, national and supranational world and between freedom and control, he also stressed the importance of rethinking and mastering the processes to obtain a necessary leap in productivity.

 

Vision also shared by António Costa e Silva who stressed, in addition to the restructuring of industrial and work processes, the need to simplify administrative procedures and increase transparency and accountability, with the need for consistent application of European funds, in a monitored and responsible manner.

 

This morning, António Costa e Silva, also reaffirmed the importance of combining strategic reflection with good execution, acting with agility, revisiting and adapting action plans without losing track of a long-term vision.

 

Daniel Traça, Dean of Nova SBE, talked about the need for long-term vision and strategy and better planning. He also highlighted the importance of having of a supra-governmental organization that can define and guarantee the execution of a long-term strategic plan for Portugal, giving as an example what has already been developed in Ireland.

 

On the other hand, Filipe Santos, Dean of Católica-Lisbon considered that the country’s future depends on the mobilization of different sectors and stakeholders, with the competitive advantage being in the adoption of an economy of knowledge, for which there are two key areas to develop: education and digital transformation. The importance of defining a national vision and purpose for Portugal, among all political and institutional actors, was also mentioned as a way of obtaining an aggregating and validating element for long-term policies.

 

The closing of the conference was in charge of Maria José Amich, executive director of The Lisbon MBA who reinforced the importance of the business schools in this transformational process by saying: “Responding to current challenges requires collaboration between different stakeholders, from government to civil society. And the Academy, precisely the business schools, have a decisive role in the development of talent, in the development of managers and leaders capable of inspiring, mobilizing and managing the necessary transformation inside the organizations, and to take the advantage of the opportunities, to achieve real tangible and positive results.

 

Maria José concluded with the statement: “The truth ‘is that we are all living a unique moment, the pandemic forced us to stop – and we have to be sure that we are together to chart the new cycle of development and growth for Portugal. Recovery is our opportunity to rethink the economy and society we want for future generations, to which we owe all our efforts”.

 

Watch here the recording of the full conference.

Download the ReImaginar Portugal digital document.