swedutech 01/12

SWEDUTECH 01/12 INNOVATION & SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
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Jack Soifer offers pro-bono mini-consulting before and after his
On 22/11 in a special carriage in the way to Beira Baixa
During 2011 there were 33 presentations in 15
book-launchings.
was launched this book by Armindo Palma, Catarina Gonçalves, Jack Soifer, Jorge Santos & Sílvia Chambel. It was cities for some 1400 people. An interview in the daily newspaper
Economico resulted in 2340 liked and 800 forwards.
followed by visits to ecological
You
may
read
his columns, some with summaries of chapters of
produce and agroindustrial
these & other books, mainly in English, in: www.oje.pt weekly on Tue;
sustainable units. On the 23/11
http://oourico.blogs.sapo.pt/3702 on Mon; http://aeiou.visao.pt Altavisa fortnightly
the launching was in Lisbon. It
on Thu. Monthly: http://www.sulinformacao.com, http://www.tribunadouro.com,
has forewords by, a.o, the well
http://www.algarvedailynews.com/search/Jack%2BSoifer/%252F?ordering=&searchphrase=all.
known Dutch professor Louk Box,
Each
2nd mo: http://skal-algarve.org, www.jacksoifer.org. On Entrepreneurship, InnoJoão Dinis, from the Agricultural
vation, Economy, Management, Tourism, Sustainable Development.
Confederation, Miguel Correia,
Please write through the website for details. VERY WELCOME!
former Presidential Councellor
and Prof. Viriato Soromenho.
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Some 90 businessmen met at
Since launching at Sociedade
the presentation site, both from
de Geografia in May,
outmost South to the North. Also
TRANSPORTES, written
by Jack Soifer, Luís C Silva and
businessmen from Sweden,USA,
António M Aguiar, has been
France, Brazil, India and Japan.
presented in several cities. It has
st
The Minister of the Japanese Embassy and the 1 Secrea long summary in English and
tary of the British Embassy were also at this venue, as well foreword by former Minister Mira
Amaral and by Fernando Pinto,
as the President of the Portuguese-Belgium-Luxembourg
Chairman of the board of TAP.
Chamber of Commerce. The massmedia and a represenLUCRAR NA CRISE is
tative of the Ministry of Agriculture were there.
mainly for entrepreneurs, listing
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Essttuuddooss profitable niches,also in a crisis,
with very limited capital needs.
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Sílvia Chambel, Catarina Gonçalves & Jack Soifer listening to the Duke of Bragança
J.Soifer, Flávio Ferreira, Pres. of ESEIG, Rosário Gambôa, Pres.of IPP & Jorge Santos
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Author Armindo Jacinto presents sustainable SMEs of Idanha-Nova
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Alexandra Coelho, newspaper Público, Kate Christie, UK Embassy, José Pina, RTP and
Tatsuo Arai, Japanese Embassy, Zev Schwarcz, USA
JackSoifer, author
S W ED U T E C H 12/ 11
INNOVATION & SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Mentioned books are sold in Portugal by Bertrand, some by FNAC
Bimonthly Newsletter
Albufeira, Portugal
www.jacksoifer.org
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In a few editions we’ll re-print, with the author’s authorization, parts of chapters in this handbook
In a few editions we’ll re-print, with the author’s authorization, parts of chapters in this handbook.
₢ Jack Soifer
₢ Jack Soifer
2. Executive Summary II 2. Executive Summary I
continued
In Portugal 88% of all enterprises are SMEs. Since they had and
have very limited access to financing(financing private consumption allows
better profits to the banks) they were not able to update their production
systems, which seriously reduced their competitiveness. We list
areas where SMEs are still competitive, but then bureaucracy &
regulation restrict their development. Other cases, where the lack of
investment makes them temporarily outdated. Still others, where
lobbying influences the government to institute certain regulations,
limit their competing & getting portions of the local or national market.
Part of the lack of competitiveness is due to inadequate practices. This may be explained by: a) the informal economy; b) unclear
regulations; c)bureaucracy; d) low quality on public services; e)
outdated labour laws; f) concentration of the economic power to
a dozen “old families”. The EU focuses mainly on the monetary
functions, instead of development, thereby reducing the attention
that should be given to training, actual performance & productivity.
The EU policy on Agriculture and Fisheries, paying people not to
work their lands is a disaster. This is mainly because of the quality of food that we eat. Also there is a policy of not encouraging people
to remain in the villages. This causes the loss of the real value for the
assets already invested there. The EU funds for rural development
have not yet had any positive result in Portugal.
In Ch.5.3 we tell about the lobbies and special interests in the int’l
trade of grains and industrialized food. We also discuss domestic
dumping practices. We detail how the dairy industry in Portugal
disobeyed an agreement with the former minister of Agriculture and
all milk-cow owners. We detail a few places where several layers of
middlemen between a few thousand producers and some 30
industries lower the prices for the producer to such an extent that
they let fruits and produce rot because it doesn’t pay to harvest
them. We site an example where the industry ice-cream is controlled
by Unilever & Nestlé, who allow local manufacturers no access to
national retail sales so they can only keep
to their own local municipalities. The EU
accepts this as free-competition.
In the olive-oil industry we have 3 brands
which control the market; although this is a
simple proce-dure and hundreds of SMEs
could compete, if we had a true free-market.
We mention a family-owned and run enterprise, Joia do Sul, which wins int’l quality
awards, but cannot enter the domestic
market other than in its own local Algarve. The same story goes for
a cooperative in Portalegre. We detail how the lobby works and
tell about a lobby-lawyer who used to write the regulations for
the ministers. And how certain corporations don’t pay taxes on
their profits, by sending all the profits to off-shore accounts, then
investing in other countries, where the tax laws are not enforced.
We detail the tactics they use, and how the agencies who are
supposed to enforce these laws, do nothing. As a result, the excellent water-melons of Idanha feed animals, instead of humans. (cont)
For decades economic rules and cycles were predictable, as
the majority of people acted rationally with regard to their purchases. Gangsters in the USA in the 1920s made it possible for cartels
and oligopolies to destroy the free market. For centuries transportation was carried out by single entrepreneurs, with a few men sailing or on horseback. Small & Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)
built railways, mainly taking minerals, agricultural produce and
other raw-materials to harbours and capitals. Channels & sluices
on rivers were built to allow the inexpensive transportation along
rivers and lakes, using mainly charcoal as fuel.
The use of diesel brought almost a revolution to equipment,
making it possible for long travel with no stop for re-fuel and
higher speed. The need to use the expensive tracks and
harbours brought the need for larger capacity, thus larger
investments, thus much larger enterprises. Only bustransportation continued as SME, as most of the investment was
in only one vehicle at a time, as road was a public investment.
Industrial heavy investments brought larger and inexpensive
produc-tion, but a longer distance to the markets. These
expanded, mainly in the 1920s and soon after the World War II.
The need for specialized engineering and manpower made it
necessary for many industries to purchase parts and semiindustrialized goods from other industries. Thus, an iron bar could
become a forged part in another town, need a surface treatment
in a third, and finally be assembled in a carriage in a fourth. All
this required transportation, often by different means. Now all that
is planned and controlled by computers for just-in-time delivery,
for assembly, for the shipment or for the fashion-show. Inventory
is costly and needs to be kept to a minimum.
The power for transportation means has changed along
centuries. From animals on land and wind on seas, to expensive
and ineffective gasoline engines, to diesel engines both in ships,
locomotives and trucks, to effective electric locomotives and
trams, to biofuel. Very heavy materials, such as steel all over, are
now often replaced by lighter, as aluminium, composites, etc. But
very large companies and their lobbies still maintain traditional
materials and combustion engines as the main standard.
Portugal was pioneer in sailing and discovering other continents,
such as Magellan did. Because of that, perhaps, almost no
investment was done in tracks/roads until the 1920s. First
railways, then a very few airplanes were used; the latter,
hydroplanes flew to Madeira. Lisbon airport started 1942, Faro
1965. TAP started 1945 and became state-owned in -75, as all
the railways, under Caminhos de Ferro Por tugueses, CP. The
dozens of long-distance bus-companies were nationalized also
in -75, but returned to private hands in the -90ies.
In the last century very small investments in infrastructure were
made in harbours, railways and roads, up to 1998, for the World
Expo in Lisbon. The high-speed train Alfa started effective operations in early 2003, just prior to the Euro Football Championship. It
seems those investments are part of showing off an image, not
part in a rational economic development long-term plan. (to cont)
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Esta newsletter é em Inglês, mas os livros são em Português.
Escreva-nos e receberá algum capítulo e o índice.
S W ED U T E C H 12/ 11
INNOVATION & SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Estes livros são vendidos em Portugal nas Bertrand, alguns na FNAC
Bimonthly Newsletter
Albufeira, Portugal
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Em 22/11 a bordo de um comboio especial a caminho da Beira
baixa foi o lançamento deste livro, que tem como autores Armindo
Palma, Catarina Gonçalves, Jack Soifer, Jorge Santos e Sílvia
Chambel. Teve visita a quintas biológicas, queijaria, ervas
e produção agroindustrial sustentável. Em 23/11 foi o lançamento na Av.Liberdade,Lisboa.O
livro foi prefaciado por, entre mais, o
renomado consultor int’l Louk Box,
João Dinis,CNA, Anacoreta Correia,
UCCLA, Viriato Soromenho, Gulbenkian e foca no Desenvolvimento
Sustentável. Mais apresentações:
14/12 ESEIG, IPP, Vila Conde,
16/12 Museu Municipal, Faro,
Escreva-nos para convites para
os próximos cocktails, Fevereiro.
PORTUGAL RURAL, a oportunidade,
TRANSPORTES, novos caminhos,
EMPREENDER TURISMO de NATUREZA
e THE FUTURE OF TOURISM foram
apresentados no congresso da APAVT,
em Viseu, em 03/12.
Na foto o pres. da APAVT, João Passos, o
autor J. Soifer, o pres. do Turismo Centro,
Pedro Machado e o autor Jorge Santos.
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O vice-presidente da CM-Lisboa, Manuel Salgado, apresenta ‘Lisboa no Futuro’
Em Setembro a revista IMOBILIÁRIA comemorou 20 anos de actividades
em Portugal e organizou em Lisboa um óptimo seminário sobre o futuro do
sector imobiliário. Estiveram presentes uns 200 empresários do sector.
www.jacksoifer.org
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5.TRANSPORTES EM PORTUGAL
Nas primeiras décadas do século XX, Portugal,
praticamente sem indústria e com uma rede de
estradas muito primitiva, viveu à base da agricultura de subsistência regional, o que não lhe
proporcionou evolução económica e social.
Ligações marítimas e aéreas
Como a rede viária mais não era do que uma modesta adaptação a “estradas” dos caminhos então existentes para os transportes de tracção animal, a mobilidade da população e da sua
produção era bastante deficiente, pelo que não tinha competitividade suficiente para se falar em exportação, principalmente
por via terrestre, em que a Espanha constituía mais um
obstáculo do que um caminho de aproximação para a restante
Europa. Valiam-nos os portos da costa atlântica, que nos
permitiam aceder a todo o mundo, como no tempo dos Descobrimentos, e que então eram as principais portas de ligação
com as Colónias, mais tarde designadas Ultramarinas.
Nos anos ’40, a aviação conheceu progressos significativos e
o aeroporto da Portela, em Lisboa, inaugurado em 1942, começou a ter procura crescente, dada a sua localização privilegiada
(num planalto a 114 m de altitude, está praticamente sempre
operacional) para os voos intercontinentais, que igualmente
demandavam os Açores. Os voos para a Madeira eram assegurados por hidroaviões da Aquila Airways, que tinham a sua doca
em Cabo Ruivo e utilizavam o calmo e extenso estuário do Tejo
(ainda sem pontes) como pista. A TAP (criada em 1945, privatizada em 1953
e nacionalizada em 1975) veio a adquirir aquela companhia. Porém,
estes voos foram abandonados na sequência de um grave
acidente ocorrido à “descolagem” do Tejo, que vitimou muita
gente, tendo sido substituídos por aviões normais, ligando a
Portela directamente ao aeroporto do Funchal.
(continua na próxima edição)
À direita vê-se, entre outros, Eric van Leuwen, da Cushman e David Sampson da revista People & Business
INSTITUTO da DEMOCRACIA
PORTUGUESA
Este Instituto, com mais de 300 associados, publica
uma newsletter e também em seminários divulga
boas práticas governativas e aquelas que precisam
melhorar. É Presidente honorário SAR o Duque de Bragança e Presidente executivo Mendo Henriques.
Vários associados formaram a INDEPORT, cooperativa
que realiza estudos, análises e consultorias, ao aproveitar as sinergias de profissionais de alta competência em
diversos setores e com experiência internacional, como
Rui Rangel, Paulino B. Santos, João Jardine Neto e
João Palmeiro. www.democraciaportuguesa.org
₢ Jack Soifer
Início do capítulo do livro lançado em Maio
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Mendo Henriques, Frederico B.
Carvalho e Francisco C. Rego,
após a Assembleia Geral
Em 07/10 realizou-se em Faro a
conferência Inovar em Turismo,
com a presença de 2 palestrantes
da UE e alguns de Portugal. Falou,
entre mais, a Secretária de Estado
do Turismo, Cecília Meireles.
À tarde, moderado por Mário
Candeias, Hotel Tivoli Vitória e
relatado por António Barros, CCDRAlgave, houve um painel sobre
Tecnologia e Turismo.