The president of the republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, this Thursday said it was “very urgent” that the national strategy for the blue economy is understood by all Portuguese and warned of the risk that Portugal “continues to postpone the future”.
“I understand that it is very urgent that Portugal, which already has a national strategy for the blue economy, succeed in ensuring that this national strategy is understood by the Portuguese, shared by the Portuguese, and communicated to public policy and to civil society not just at the level of an autonomous region, or any other autonomous region, or at the level of the continent, but at the general level of the country,” he stated.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa spoke at the opening of the conference “Portugal and the Sea — The Blue Engineering”, in Funchal, in an intervention presented on video, underlining that the country’s strategy for the sector must be global and seen as “a kind of national design”.
And when it’s global, it means the government, the president of the republic, the assembly of the republic, the prime minister, the government, the opposition, political parties in general, academia, the scientific community, businesses, various interest groups should be involved: groups, public associations, the media society, local communities,” he said.
The head of state believed that if the national strategy for the blue economy does not reach all these key players, it will not reach the majority of Portuguese people.
“It doesn’t reach the Portuguese men and women, the millions of Portuguese men and women, it doesn’t reach it,” he said, then reinforces that foreign, defensive, economic and financial, educational, cultural, scientific and technological policies should be aimed at this “national design”.
“If the consequences don’t come afterwards, don’t touch reality, don’t touch the lives of ordinary citizens, in a sense that means we keep postponing our future,” he warned.
In his speech at the conference “Portugal and the Sea — Blue Engineering”, an event organized by the Order of Engineers, with the high sponsorship of the Presidency of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa reiterated the importance of strengthening his leadership position by Portugal in global impact dossiers, such as the ratification of the Convention on the High Seas, achieved in 2022, at the UN Conference on the Oceans in Lisbon.
On the other hand, he underlined the importance and impact of the oceans on issues such as climate change, food chains, transport systems, energy, employment, tourism and the livelihoods of local communities, emphasizing the contribution of technology to economic development, innovation and science.
Source: DN
