The economic potential of the worldwide network of Portuguese speakers, represented by CPLP (Community of Portuguese-Language Countries) members, should be a real asset to Portugal, and one of immense value. However, this potential is as yet, untapped, despite recent progress, supported by the Council for the Portuguese Diaspora to attract investment and improve strategies to co-ordinate economic diplomacy.

There are an estimated 15 million Portuguese if you add together the population of Portugal with migrant communities abroad, and their descendants. This variable, the number of Portuguese in the world, is increasingly relevant. In the short and mid-term, Portugal faces a demographic winter and a brain drain with the young leaving to seek out better standards of pay and to improve their lives.

As the number of Portuguese residing in the Iberian rectangle and the Atlantic islands shrinks, exacerbated by a birth rate that is one of the lowest in Europe, it is important to not forget the Portuguese and their descendants who live and work in other countries.

The question - “How many are we, exactly?” - is even more relevant if Portuguese speakers in Brazil, Angola, Mozambique and other member-states of the CPLP are factored in. That swells the number of people expressing themselves in Portuguese from 10-15 million to nearer 290 million. No wonder Portuguese is one of the top ten languages in the world according to 2021 data.

From a business perspective, the question is how can this potential asset be leveraged? Demographic data and indicators such as GDP, GNP or exports are of little use on their own – there needs to be a strategy to take advantage of the value generated by the talent and number of Portuguese speakers, creating synergies between states, communities, companies and networks that communicate in Portuguese. This is the old universal challenge: turning potential into outcomes. It applies equally to markets, companies, managers, employees, and even to professional athletes. 

As a contribution to the debate on the real potential and value of Portuguese and the Diaspora, it is important to underline concepts and words such as synergy, network, confidence and co-opetition. As a former member of the Board of the Council for the Portuguese Diaspora and through previous roles as aid to the President of the Portuguese Republic for Companies and Innovation, Economics Editor for the TV channel SIC/SIC Notícias, author of several books, or teacher, it is clear that it is only through innovation, scale, unity, and collaboration that products, goods, or services can be made attractive and viable; the same applies to nations or peoples who share a common language.

One of the key factors for success is a mind-set for alignment, or an attitude to get everyone pulling in the same direction, more confidently, with sharper focus, to finally seize opportunities that have previously eluded Portugal’s grasp. The challenge is that product offerings that would make Portugal stand out are balkanized as a result of excessive individualism, along with a stigma on those making headway and creating value outside of the country that birthed the Age of Discovery. These obstacles are stopping Portugal and its Diaspora from fulfilling its roles and potential to the utmost.

“Co-opetition” is another concept to think about. There should be a national conversation on Portugal’s post-1500s past and the path that lies ahead. Does Portugal want, or not want to travel that path across the challenging 21st century?

Co-opetition is a merger of concepts that should be more valued: co-operation and competition. There needs to be more co- operation, and more acting as a network if Portugal is take better advantage of synergies and economies of scale. Everyone competes simultaneously with themselves and others, always trying to improve, because there’s always a competitor out there. In practice, if you need to co-operate with your direct competitors to win a bid in some foreign market or put up a front against a foreign competitor because that’s the key to success, then you need strategies in place to accommodate co-opetition.

There are numerous examples of Portuguese companies going international and co-operating with their competitors, mostly in foreign markets. That happens in the hospitality and tourism industry, in construction and public works, and integrated product offerings spanning technology, consultancy, engineering, or architecture. For example, the Pestana and Vila Galé Groups take to foreign markets a number of vendors and producers of wine, olive oil, textiles, ceramics, and other services  through their international channels. On the global level, setting aside for now other theoretical considerations on the concept of co-opetition, there are a number of examples of the virtue inherent in co-operation between competitors when it comes to win a bid or support ranks of vendors and customers - entrepreneurs and managers living and working in Spain, for example, are well aware of it.

This concept of co-opetition applies to several national economic sectors if only the reigning mentality changes - if the competitive strategy at sector and national level includes the proper valuation of whatever enables the country to stand out, such as things that pride can be taken in - if there be art and ingenuity to help everyone understand, in unison, that there is this invaluable asset that one must draw from smartly and deliberately. Portugal has population, territory, talent, good projects, tradition, innovation. It must stop making itself small. It is good and competitive on the world stage.

In Portugal, meaning the territory that borders Spain and not the spiritual Portugal scattered throughout the world that the President uses to leverage soft power through his diplomatic influence – all that is needed is more ambition.

The country shouldn’t be afraid of growth when compared to European, Asian or American markets. The Council for the Portuguese Diaspora is positive, and full of trust and hope for Portugal’s future in 2023.

In Portugal all that is needed is more ambition. The country shouldn’t be afraid of growth when compared to European, Asian or American markets.