Yesterday, António Costa Silva, Government consultant for the national recovery plan, presented the document with the “Portugal 2020-30 Strategic Vision for the Economic and Social Recovery Plan“, which will be a key element in structuring economic recovery actions and planning for the use of the available European funds.

António Costa Silva highlights in his plan the relevance of several clusters for the recovery, mentioning the important role to be played by AED member companies both within the cluster of “Engineering of Complex Products and Systems Based on Digital Technologies”, but also, and above all, within the scope of Industries and Defence Economics, in which the cluster are an integral part:

This cluster promotes the dual use of goods and services and contributes to the competitiveness and internationalization of the Portuguese economy. Collaboration with international companies, such as Embraer and Airbus, enhances the integration of technological chains and systems and opens new perspectives for products with high added value. It is necessary to reinforce investment in this cluster, because it is a lever for the country’s technological development.

For António Costa Silva, there is a need to support projects within the scope of various activities of the Aeronautics, Space and Defence sectors, of which he highlights:

• urban air mobility;
• design innovation and aeronautical structures manufacturing;
• microlaunchers and microsatellites;
• maritime surveillance, command and control, cyber defense and submarine systems.

In António Costa Silva’s opinion, the themes of reindustrialization and training of human resources are also a priority for Portugal, namely in the aerospace sector. These are notes that reassure the importance of two key action points that AED Cluster Portugal has been developing over time.

This document was released for public discussion and it is intended to be the subject of contributions, until the 21st of August. At the end of the discussion phase, this strategic vision should be presented to the European Commission.