Portugal Shifts Focus from Location to Knowledge-Based Competitiveness

For years Portugal marketed its strategic location, affordable costs and stable environment to lure industry and tourism. While those factors remain relevant, they no longer fully explain recent investments in sectors such as cloud computing, data centres, space technology, AI and renewable energy. These high-value projects require a skilled workforce, robust research institutions and the ability to integrate into complex global value chains.

Portugal now boasts recognized universities, research centres and companies exporting software and engineering services, as well as a new generation of globally minded entrepreneurs. To make this a lasting economic model, the country must deepen university-industry collaboration, turn research into marketable products, support tech start-ups and retain talent with competitive projects. Attracting multinationals is only the first step; the real gain comes when they source locally, partner with universities and foster new firms.