Portugal

The Rethinking Regional Attractiveness in the New Global Environment report highlights lessons learned from multiple regional case studies from five EU countries (Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Sweden), additional work with Latin American and Caribbean regions, and a series of webinars and one-on-one dialogues on rethinking regional attractiveness. The OECD’s innovative multidimensional approach to assessing regional attractiveness considers global engagement beyond international connections and economic factors alone. The methodology considers more than 50 indicators to develop regional attractiveness profiles covering six domains of attractiveness: economic attraction, connectedness, visitor appeal, natural environment, resident well-being, and land-use and housing. The report helps regional and national policy makers to understand how individual regions fare in a new global environment that continues to deal with the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis, compounded by the consequences of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and existing megatrends – all of which produce asymmetric impacts within and between countries and regions – and identify the policy levers available to enhance their attractiveness to the international target groups of investors, talent, and visitors. It also considers the need to co-ordinate across levels of government, across policy fields, and with private stakeholders, and highlights good practices to implement regional attractiveness policies.

The Impact of Regulation on International Investment in Portugal examines how regulatory reforms could help Portugal build a more enabling and competitive environment for investment, in particular foreign direct investment (FDI). The report analyses trends and patterns of FDI activity in Portugal, including its broader economic, social and environmental benefits to Portugal. It gives an overview of the economy-wide and sector-specific regulatory settings in Portugal compared to selected European peer economies and provides an empirical analysis of the potential effects of domestic regulatory reforms on FDI. Foreign investors’ perceptions on Portugal’s business environment complement these findings. The report indicates potential areas for regulatory reforms and proposes policy measures to further improve Portugal’s investment climate and support efforts to attract and retain more FDI while strengthening its contribution to sustainable development in Portugal.

This report assesses the enabling conditions for maximising the benefits of foreign direct investment (FDI) on SME productivity and innovation in Portugal. It looks at the quality of investment that Portugal attracts and the capacity of Portuguese SMEs to benefit from any knowledge and technology spillovers resulting from these investments. It studies the extent to which FDI-SME spillovers occur through value chain linkages, strategic partnerships, labour mobility, competition and imitation effects. The report provides an overview of Portuguese public institutions responsible for investment, SMEs, innovation and regional development policies, taking a close look at arrangements to ensure multi-level policy coordination, stakeholder consultation and evaluation of policy impacts. It then reviews the mix of government policies that are currently in place to support FDI-SME linkages and spillovers, noting areas for further policy reforms. The last chapter introduces a regional lens, focusing in particular on the regions of Norte and Alentejo. This report is part of a broader European Commission-OECD programme on strengthening FDI-SME linkages and serves as a pilot for future country assessments.

Portugal’s services markets are among the most heavily regulated in the OECD. As vital inputs into the business sector, services provided by professionals, such as lawyers and engineers, generate up to 1.8 times their value in outputs by firms that use them. However, structural flaws in the regulation make professional services highly expensive for firms, diminishing their ability to compete effectively. Regulatory restrictions also hamper innovation and efficiency within the professions. Against this backdrop, this report examines regulations for 13 self-regulated professions (lawyers, solicitors, notaries, bailiffs, architects, engineers, technical engineers, certified accountants, auditors, economists, customs brokers, nutritionists and pharmacists). From 923 pieces of legislation analysed, the report makes 348 individual recommendations for amending or removing provisions to improve competition, and makes a detailed inventory of the analysis underlying the work. Analysis of Portuguese legislation and professions was complemented by research into international experiences and wide consultations with stakeholders from the public and private sectors. The OECD recommendations aim to remove or modify overly restrictive provisions in order to facilitate the access or exercise of the professions, to benefit businesses and consumers alike. This report identifies the sources of those benefits and gives estimates of their impact. Provided all recommendations are fully implemented, the benefit to the economy from lifting the barriers in the 13 liberal professions is estimated at around EUR 130 million a year.

Portugal’s services markets remain among the most heavily regulated in the OECD. Inland and maritime transports in Portugal are a vital part of the business environment, ensuring the movement of goods and passengers and inputs for the business sector. Regulatory restrictions limit the ability of firms to effectively compete in the markets, whether as providers or customers, while hampering innovation, efficiency and productivity. Against this backdrop, this report analyses Portuguese regulations for road, railway and maritime transport, and many ancillary services (such as vehicle inspection centres), as well as Portugal’s ports. The report examines 1 064 pieces of legislation and makes 417 individual recommendations for amending or removing restrictive provisions to improve competition, and makes a detailed inventory of the analysis underlying the work. Analysis of Portuguese legislation was complemented by research into international experiences and wide consultations with public and private sector stakeholders. The OECD recommendations aim to remove or modify the provisions to benefit businesses and consumers alike. This report identifies the sources of those benefits and gives estimates of their impact. Provided all recommendations are fully implemented, the benefit to the economy from lifting the barriers in the land and maritime transport sectors is estimated to be around EUR 250 million a year.