Portugal

This case study assesses the strategies of the Museum of Lisbon as well as the related policies of Lisbon City Council to support local development. Through its five branches located across the city and its diverse partnerships with local stakeholders, the Museum of Lisbon has cemented its role as a community anchor institution. This case study focuses on the five dimensions featured in the OECD-ICOM Guide for Local Governments, Communities and Museums, namely the role of museums in: i) economic development, ii) urban regeneration, iii) education and creativity, iv) inclusion, health and well-being, and on iv) ways to mainstream the role of museums in local development.

This report assesses the current state and future potential of cultural and creative sectors (CCS) in the nine outermost regions of the European Union (EU): Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte, Réunion, and Saint Martin (France); the Azores and Madeira (Portugal); and the Canary Islands (Spain). Global trends, such as increases in cultural tourism, trade in creative goods and services, and FDI in CCS offer significant opportunities for EU outermost regions to expand their cultural and creative sectors, promote synergies with tourism and help drive job creation. In addition, CCS policies can also boost well-being outcomes and social cohesion through preserving and promoting local cultural heritage and encouraging cultural participation. CCS policy which capitalises on these global trends, whilst recognising the specific context of EU outermost regions, could help promote these areas and contribute to local development.

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.

Italy’s start-up visa aims to make the national start-up ecosystem more easily accessible to foreign talent, rich with knowledge and skills, and more integrated into global markets. Government reports show that the programme has not yet achieved a critical scale. The analysis of similar initiatives in Chile, France, Ireland and Portugal identifies five gateways for attracting more foreign entrepreneurs, such as an effective policy outreach, smooth inter-institutional co-operation across the migratory process, and the provision of sound support services for a 'soft landing' of entrepreneurs upon arrival. These takeaways may also inform new talent attraction policies targeting remote workers, an expanding group in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

After a decade of steady growth, the tourism sector in Portugal is facing its most acute challenge in modern times, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. As inbound visitors return to Portugal, the tourism workforce will need digital skills to make effective use of new technologies, and exploit the opportunities digitalisation is opening up for marketing, as well as product and destination development. Successful digital uptake by businesses will be a driving force in building recovery and resilience in the longer term. While there has been progress in recent years, especially in response to the pandemic, there remains considerable scope to go further. To support this digital transformation, this report examines and assesses current policy approaches to support digital skills and workforce development in the sector, and presents a selection of policy considerations to: i) address digital transformation gaps, shortages and opportunities for workforce organisation and skills development, and ii) enhance governance mechanisms to support the digital skills transformation of the tourism workforce.

The COVID-19 crisis has had a profound impact on SME access to finance. In particular, the sudden drop in revenues created acute liquidity shortages, threatening the survival of many viable businesses. The report documents an increase in demand for bank lending in the first half of 2020, and a steady supply of credit thanks to government interventions. On the other hand, other sources of finance declined, in particular early-stage equity. This paper, a special edition of Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs, focuses on the impacts of COVID-19 on SME access to finance, along with government policy responses. It reveals that the pre-crisis financing environment was broadly favourable for SMEs and entrepreneurs, who benefited from low interest rates, loose credit standards and an increasingly diverse offer of financing instruments. It documents the unprecedented scope and scale of the policy responses undertaken by governments world-wide, and details their key characteristics, and outlines the principal issues and policy challenges for the next phases of the pandemic, such as the over-indebtedness of SMEs and the need to continue to foster a diverse range of financing instruments for SMEs.

It is increasingly understood that entrepreneurship plays a critical role in economic growth and well-being. But which policies can governments develop to release its benefits? This publication offers guidance and inspiration. It identifies the range of entrepreneurship policies being pursued internationally, the problems the policies seek to solve and how they are designed and implemented. The focus is on how to create a broad base of start-ups with the potential for sustainability and growth by building a pipeline of new entrepreneurs, supporting start-ups to overcome barriers in areas such as skills, finance and innovation and stimulating vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystems. The publication examines the rationale for entrepreneurship policy, presents a typology of policy approaches and highlights principles for policy success. The points are illustrated by 16 case studies of inspiring practice policies from 12 OECD countries. These cases span policies for regulations and taxation, entrepreneurship education and training, advice and coaching, access to finance, internationalisation, innovation, and holistic packages for ecosystem building. Helpful summary tables guide readers to the information that will respond to their questions. The publication will give readers an overview of key entrepreneurship policy interventions and tips on entrepreneurship policy success.

Portugal aims to develop a more innovative, inclusive and productive economy, and to ensure that the ensuing benefits are widely distributed, regionally and socially. This report assesses the extent to which Portugal’s higher education, research and innovation system is well configured to help Portugal achieve its vision of inclusive innovation, and identify which policy options might help it achieve its goals. The assessment and the related recommendations focus on: 1) governance, strategy and funding in higher education, research and innovation; 2) the missions, profiles and use of resources of higher education institutions; 3) undergraduate and master’s level education activities; 4) doctoral training activities; 5) academic careers; 6) high-skill employment and business innovation.

This OECD publication provides statistics on international trade in services by partner country for 28 OECD countries plus the European Union (EU27), the Euro area, and Hong Kong, China as well as definitions and methodological notes. The data concern trade between residents and non-residents of countries and are reported within the framework of the Manual on Statistics of International Trade in Services. This book includes summary tables of trade patterns listing the main trading partners for each country and by broad service category. Series are shown in US dollars and cover the period 2004-2008.