SAPCC Newsletter May 2023

NEWS LETTER

Gauteng Department of Economic Development Delegation Visits Portugal

See page 2

Exportações de bens Portuguesas para a África do Sul crescem 104% Por Guilherme Lopes

See page 5

Portugal and Brazil sign 13 bilateral agreements at the 13th Luso-Brazilian Summit

See page 7

of addiction”

By Tony de Gouveia

See page 9

Advertising

Trustees: Your New Duty to Report Beneficial Owners

By Rui Marto

See page 13

Developing hydrogen and wind offshore wind power will reduce country’s energy dependence

See page 15

Prime Minister praises joint World cup 2030 bid from Portugal, Spain, Morocco and Ukraine

See page 16

Starting again #3 –Was I honourable?

By Allon Raiz

See page 18

“Dopamine eradealing with the world

Gauteng Department of Economic Development Delegation Visits Portugal

A delegation from the Gauteng Department of Economic Development, headed by the Member of the Executive Council for Economic Development, Ms Tasneem Motara, travelled to Portugal from 25 to 31 March 2023 to promote Trade, Investment and Tourism. The aim of the visit was to further strengthen the ties between Gauteng Province and different Portuguese companies and institutions.

The MEC was accompanied by Mr Sipho Marala, Group Executive: Trade Investment and Regulatory Enablement, Ms Sthembiso Dlamini: Chief Executive Officer and Mr Bongani Nkosi, Director, Strategic Partnerships, Special Projects and International Relations. The program for the visit was compiled by the Embassy in Lisbon, together with the Portuguese Trade & Investment Agency (AICEP).

On the first day, the delegation met the South African Ambassador to Portugal, Mrs. Gaoretelelwe. Ambassador Gaoretelelwe accompanied the delegation to the SAGAL EXPO, the main event for Portuguese food export.

The Delegation met the Portuguese Minister of the Economy, Mr António Costa e Silva. They exchanged information of the economy of respective countries and agreed that there were many areas whether the two countries could cooperate, especially in relation to Portugal’s technological developments in renewable energy and electric vehicles.

The Gauteng delegation continued the visit to Portugal on the second day by travelling to Porto, in the north of Portugal, the main industrial area of the country. The Delegation met with the two Portuguese companies that invested heavily in the South African economy, namely, SAPCC premium member, Rangel Logistics Solutions (transport company) and Sodecia (car parts manufacturer). In their meetings with the Delegation, the management of both companies reaffirmed their intentions to maintain their investments and business interests in South Africa but also to increase their footprint in the years to come.

The Delegation was also able to visit the Professional Training Centre for the Footwear Industry (Centro de Formação Profissional da Indústria do Calçado), where MEC Tasneem Motara was introduced to its professional training offer oriented to the industry’s demands and its impact through the training of young footwear entrepreneurs.

The Gauteng delegation met with AICEP board member, Mrs Rita Araujo and Mr Guilherme Lopes, Economic and Trade Counsellor at Embassy of Portugal, South Africa to discuss possible actions to further cooperation between AICEP and the Gauteng Provincial Government.

ARTICLE

On the third day, the Gauteng Department of Economic Development met with representatives from the company PRF - Gas Solutions, which operates in the fields of hydrogen, compressed natural gas, and liquefied natural gas. PRF is currently operating a refuelling station that fuels hydrogen powered busses in the municipality of Cascais, MobiCascais.

PRF- Gas Solutions representative stated, “It was an honour for us to welcome the distinguished South African delegation to our country and to be able to share all our projects in the hydrogen area, with visits to the hydrogen injection and mixing unit into the natural gas network and to the DRHYVE refuelling station installed in Cascais Próxima, Cascais.”

broad infrastructure projects planned in South Africa

The Delegation also met with the President of Portugal's National Tourism Authority (Turismo de Portugal), to share best practices in terms of tourism promotion. Many useful ideas were shared on how to overcome similar challenges in the South African tourism industry.

Later, the Delegation visited Portugal’s Airline, TAP, to exchange information related to the recovery of tourism between South Africa and Portugal and future expectations of cooperation.

On the last day of their Portuguese trip, the Gauteng Delegation visited the Sines Industrial and Logistics Zone (ZILS) and the Sines Port Authority in the south of Portugal. They were briefed on the rapid development of investment in the areas of green hydrogen and other gases, chemical production, the building of data centres and gas transport infrastructure in Sines. The Delegation in turn briefed the Sines Officials on the

The Gauteng Delegation’s trip was successful in achieving

further promote trade between South Africa and Portugal.

Exportações de bens Portuguesas para a África do Sul crescem 104%

ExPoRTAçõEs GLoBAis PoRTuGuEsAs

Em valores acumulados, de Janeiro a Março de 2023, as exportações totais de bens Portuguesas ascenderam a 20.585 milhões de euros, contra 18.179 milhões de euros em igual período de 2022, o que representa uma taxa de crescimento de 13,2%.

Durante os primeiros três meses deste ano, as exportações Portuguesas de bens para a União Europeia aumentaram 8,9%, representando assim uma quota de 70,3% do total. A Espanha assumiu-se enquanto principal destino das nossas exportações de bens, com uma quota de 25,4%, seguindo-se a França (13,3%) e a Alemanha (11,0%).

Por Guilherme Lopes*

As exportações extracomunitárias aumentaram 25,0% até Março em termos homólogos, representando assim 29,7% do total das nossas exportações de bens no final do primeiro trimestre. Os EUA (6,8%), o Reino-Unido (4,7%) a Angola (1,9%) assumiram-se enquanto principais clientes extracomunitários.

Por grupos de produtos, as Máquinas e Aparelhos

Eléctricos constituíram a principal categoria de produto exportada (14,9%), seguindo-se os Veículos e Outro Material de Transporte (13,7%) e os Metais Comuns (8,6%).

ExPoRTAçõEs dE BEns PoRTuGuEsAs PARA A ÁfRicA do suL

As exportações Portuguesas de bens para a África do Sul durante o primeiro trimestre de 2023 atingiram os 88,5 milhões de euros, o que representa um crescimento de 104,6% face aos 43,3 milhões de euros exportados em igual período do ano passado.

Até Março de 2023, o mercado da África do Sul

assumiu-se enquanto 30º principal mercado das

Guilherme Lopes

exportações globais Portuguesas e o quinto principal mercado Africano, representando 7,0% do total das nossas exportações de bens para o continente e 1,4% do total das nossas exportações para os mercados extracomunitários.

Os Veículos e Outro Material de Transporte assumiram-se enquanto principal categoria de produto exportada por Portugal para a África do Sul durante os três primeiros meses do ano, com uma quota total de 50,4%, seguida pelas Máquinas e Aparelhos Eléctricos (12,1%) e as Gorduras e óleos animais ou vegetais (7,8%).

É igualmente factor de destaque pela positiva o aumento substantivo verificado nas exportações Portuguesas para a África do Sul de categorias de produto de alto valor acrescentado, como as Máquinas e Aparelhos Eléctricos (10,7 M€, +161,0%) ou as Máquinas e Aparelhos Mecânicos (4,4 M€, +90,0%).

ExPoRTAçõEs dE BEns suL-AfRicAnAs PARA PoRTuGAL

As exportações Sul-Africanas de bens para Portugal até Março deste ano cifraram-se em 27,9 milhões de euros, o que representa um aumento de 72,1% face ao período homólogo e faz da África do Sul o 51º principal fornecedor de Portugal.

Os Plásticos e suas obras (43,6%), os Peixes e Crustáceos (19,8%) e os Veículos e Outro Material de Transporte (11,1%) representaram as principais categorias de produto exportadas.

Pese embora a principal categoria de produtos exportada, os Veículos e Outro Material de Transporte, represente actualmente metade das nossas exportações para a África do Sul, as exportações das restantes categorias de produto cresceram em média 48,4%, algo positivo tendo em conta o contexto inflacionista e de desvalorização do Rand Sul-Africano vivido durante o primeiro trimestre deste ano.

*Guilherme Lopes é o Conselheiro Económico e Comercial (desde Julho 2020) na Embaixada de Portugal em Pretória, África do Sul e Conselheiro Economico da Agência para o Investimento e Comércio Externo de Portugal (AICEP). AICEP é uma entidade empresarial do governo, focada em incentivar as melhores empresas estrangeiras a investir em Portugal e contribuir para o sucesso das empresas portuguesas no exterior em seus processos de internacionalização ou atividades de exportação.

Portugal and Brazil sign 13 bilateral agreements at the 13 th Luso-Brazilian Summit

Prime Minister António Costa underlined the "importance of today, where after seven years interrupted, we have resumed the annual summits between Portugal and Brazil".

"We resume these summits in the second visit President Lula da Silva makes to Portugal and the first to Europe", António Costa went on, explaining that the date was picked by the Brazilian Head of State because 22 April sets the arrival of the first Portuguese to Brazil in 1500.

These positions were shared by António Costa at the press conference that closed the 13th Luso-Brazilian Summit in Lisbon, where the President of Brazil Lula da Silva was by his side.

The Prime Minister stated that by signing 13 legal instruments, Portugal and Brazil have a lot to work on together.

"We have moved forward concretely with these instruments, where the most important has to do with people, the Brazilian communities in Portugal and the Portuguese communities in Portugal, to grant anyone who completes their secondary schooling in Brazil or in Portugal to have access to higher education", he said.

Secondly, the Prime Minister noted the fact that "a very old process to do with setting up the Portuguese School in São Paulo was freed up, and acknowledgement of the training offered at the school by the Brazilian educational system."

António Costa also highlighted an important step taken towards the mutual recognition of driving licences, "which is absolutely crucial for anyone moving from Portugal to Brazil or anyone moving from Brazil to Portugal not having to repeat their driving exam".

Prime Minister António Costa gave a speech at the press conference that closed the 13th Luso-Brazilian Summit, together with the President of Brazil Lula da Silva, Lisbon, 22 April 2023 (photo: António Pedro/Lusa)

ARTICLE

"I also wish to emphasise the agreements on witness protection and cooperation in fighting racism and xenophobia, for the protection of human rights and democratic values, namely in the Portuguese language digital space", he noted.

EconoMic RELATions

Another dimension deemed important by António Costa has to do with straightening economic ties between Portugal and Brazil.

"These relations are now strengthened by the fact that the landing stations for the major fibreoptics cable linking the entire South America to Europe is between Portugal and Brazil, between Sines and Fortaleza. This is a factor for mobilising the economy, based on traffic data and which must be boosted on both sides of the Atlantic", he said.

On the economic and defence field, the Prime Minister spoke about "a new willingness" that will be reflected on the economic forum held in Porto on Monday.

Next, "we will be able to fly onboard the KC-390, the first plane delivered to the Portuguese Air Force under our bilateral cooperation, to land at the OGMA (Oficinas Gerais de Material Aeronáutico – Aeronautical Material General Workshop) headquarters", he said.

In Alverca, also in the presence of Lula da Silva, a "new agreement to adapt another Embraer aircraft, the A-29 Super Tucano" will be signed.

«Portugal will host the entire process to train pilots in Europe and Africa to fly the Brazilian fighter plane", he added.

Another point stressed by António Costa concerns the cooperation agreements between AICEP and the Brazilian Agency for Foreign Trade. "It is a highly significant instrument to encourage partnerships between Portuguese and Brazilian companies, as well as the agreement signed between Portugal and Embratur, as well as the agreements signed in the field of geology and energy".

In terms of energy, the Prime Minister claimed this is one of the areas where Portugal has invested heavily in Brazil. "In the next few years, EDP and GALP will invest 5.7 billion euros to develop energy projects in Brazil", he declared.

"EDP produced recently the first molecule of green hydrogen in the whole of Latin America, in the State of Ceará, and this tightening of the ties in the field of hydrogen boosts

Brazil’s production capabilities and the role Portugal can play as a gateway of that hydrogen into Europe via the port of Sines", he said.

oThER doMAins

António Costa claimed that the summit allowed both countries to move forward in a series of important domains to leverage future relations, whether from the point of view of people or the economy, and offered as examples "the agreements signed in the field of culture for cinema production, in the field of science, for both the space agencies and the research projects in biomedicine, the policies for disabled persons and the Lisbon Charter for health and the promotion of good health practices and prevention of global crises, such as the one the world recently faced with the Covid-19 pandemic. These are new areas, inspiring areas that open the door to many future developments".

The Prime Minister also said "this summit allowed us to strengthen the cooperation between Portugal and Brazil on a multilateral level, under the CPLP – Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries, the relations between the European Union and Mercosul, and under the United Nations, where we both hope Portuguese will one day become official language and where we both agree it is fundamental to strengthen the UN-based governance level on a global level to ensure the goals in the fight against climate change are met".

On ending his speech, António Costa praised "Brazil’s new willingness to take full and effective part in the CPLP, which would forever be incomplete without Brazil as a fundamental country, seeing that it is the country with most Portuguese speakers on a global scale".

The Brazilian President Lula da Silva said he feels at home in Portugal. "For us, Portugal is not a foreign country, it is an extension of our home called Brazil. That is how we need to engage, without disputes or differences, because the differences are solved on a negotiation table".

For Lula da Silva, "the great art of politics is learning how to live democratically in diversity", and as such, "what we did here today with the agreement on health, education, disabled persons is very noble in the Brazil-Portugal relations".

At the end of the summit, the Portuguese Prime Minister and the Brazilian President issued a joint statement: "Portugal and Brazil, a partnership for the future".

https://www.portugal.gov.pt/en/gc23/ communication/news-item?i=portugal-andbrazil-sign-13-bilateral-agreements-at-the13th-luso-brazilian-summit-

“Dopamine era - dealing with the world of addiction”

By Tony de Gouveia*

“Mother needs something today to calm her down And though she's not really ill, there's a little yellow pill She goes running for the shelter of her mother's little helper And it helps her on her way, gets her through her busy day … Doctor, please, some more of these Outside the door, she took four more”

Mother's Little Helper - The Rolling Stones

“On your journey 'cross the wilderness From the desert to the well You have strayed upon the motorway to Hell”

The Road to Hell - Chris Rea

“Silver magic ships you carry Jumpers, coke, sweet Mary Jane” Sugarman - Rodriguez

The above quotes and a recent book entitled “Dopamine nationFinding Balance in the age of Indulgence” by Dr Anna Lemke got me reflecting on a challenge I am confronted

everyday as a Mental Health professional operating within Psychiatric Clinic Healthcare settings as I do and have done during the last 10 years of my career. And that is the scourge and challenge of Addiction.

The disease burden linked to Alcohol and illicit drug addiction is 1,5 % globally, 5% in the US. Both these figures exclude tobacco consumption. In South

Tony de Gouveia

Africa while the data is lacking, Substance abuse is an enormous social problem, as elsewhere, and it’s increasing every day. Alcohol, marijuana (dagga), cocaine, tik and heroin are some of the most frequently used substances in this country, according to the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG). Globally, deaths from addiction have increased in all age groups between 1990 and 2017, with more than half the deaths occurring in persons younger than 50 years of age.

Addiction can be defined as “the continued and compulsive consumption of a substance or behaviour (gambling, gaming, sex) despite its harm to self-and/ or others” (Lemke 2021, p16). It is characterised by (i) tolerance (neuroadaptation) where we need more of our substance/drug of choice/addictive behaviour to get the same effect or experiencing less pleasure at a given dose and (ii) withdrawal symptoms both physical eg anxiety (”the shakes”) and psychological ie irritability, depression and a craving for the substance/drug of choice/addictive behaviour.

We can see therefore that, in the modern world and in addiction in particular, this balance or equilibrium is constantly being disturbed. “We’re living in a time of unprecedented access to high reward, high dopamine stimuli: drugs, food, news, gambling, shopping, gaming, texting, sexting, Facebooking, Instagramming, YouTubing, tweeting… the increased numbers, variety and potency are staggering. The smartphone is the modern-day hypodermic needle, delivering digital dopamine 24/7 for a wired generation. As such we’ve all become vulnerable to compulsive overconsumption.” (Foreword, Lemke, 2021).

Now what is the link between Dopamine and Addiction you may ask? Dopamine, identified in 1957, is an important neurotransmitter in the brain involved with reward processing. It can play a bigger role in the motivation to get a reward than the pleasure of the reward itself-wanting more than liking (Lemke 2021 p49). Dopamine can be used to measure the addictive potential of any drug. The more and the faster a drug releases dopamine in the brain’s reward pathway, the more addictive the drug. For example, in an experimental rat, chocolate increases the basal output of dopamine by 55% while Amphetamine, an active ingredient of some street drugs can increase the release of Dopamine by 1000%!

In addition to the discovery of Dopamine by neuroscientists, they found that pleasure and pain are processed in overlapping areas of the brain, working via an opponent-process mechanism. In simple terms, pleasure and pain work like a balance which wants to remain level (in equilibrium or homeostasis) via a self-regulating mechanism or reflex. Thus as the saying goes What goes up, must come down.

At this point we need to devote some attention to the treatment of addiction. The first step in any treatment plan or rehabilitation generally is insight and acknowledgement of the problem. The biggest challenge here in addiction is what is known as “Denial” (not the river in Africa). There are many forces that contribute to the denial of the problem, including one’s ego, an inability to assume responsibility, a sense of shame and guilt, and “enabling” family members who are themselves in denial about the true nature of the problem. Unfortunately, many addicts never get to move beyond this stage and remain “stuck” in their addiction. Or if they do start a program due to pressure from long-suffering family members and friends sometimes due to an intervention, they are not fully committed to it because they themselves are not convinced that they have a “problem”. Associated with the denial is lying and deceit usually in the form of minimising the nature of the problem, i.e. whether any amounts were consumed and if so the quantity consumed.

The most important component of any treatment program of a diagnosed addiction is ideally a 3 week in-clinic rehabilitation where the addict is exposed to a multidisciplinary team comprising a Psychiatrist, Psychologist, Occupational therapist and Social Worker (where necessary) on an individual basis, supplemented by a daily group therapy program which focuses on providing factual inputs w.r.t Addiction, its manifestation and causes. In some cases, this may need to be further supplemented by a secondary rehabilitation process at what is known as a “half-way house” or step-down facility.

as such he or she will have laid a good foundation for a future life of sobriety.

One of the key issues in the initial 90 days is the phenomenon of “Craving”, in which the addict experiences a yearning(s) for alcohol or the relevant addictive substances.

The addict will need of necessity to learn various distraction techniques via their counsellor or sponsor to deal with these cravings which can potentially derail any rehabilitation effort.

In conclusion, the road away from addiction towards sobriety and balance is not a one-off jaunt but rather a deliberate, daily, habitual choice that has to be repeated continually in order to become a lifestyle. As Lemke says on p 233, “The rewards of finding and maintaining balance are neither immediate nor permanent. They require patience and maintenance. We must be willing to move forward despite being uncertain of what lies ahead. We must have faith that actions today that seem to have no impact in the present moment are in fact accumulating in a positive direction, which will be revealed to us only at some unknown time in the future. Healthy practices happen day by day.”

In my view the other central component to the success of any rehabilitation program is attendance and active participation in support groups such as the AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) or NA (Narcotics Anonymous) after the initial 3 week in-clinic rehabilitation is complete. The AA/NA groups provide the social support that most addicts will need, as well as access to a “sponsor” who can guide them through the potential “dark night(s) of the soul” on the road to sobriety. Many addicts are challenged to attend “90 meetings in 90 days” which as you can imagine is a tall order for anyone, let alone anyone suffering from addiction. The thinking behind this intervention is however that if the addict can survive the first 90 days in sobriety, it will have started to become a habit and

Acknowledgements:

“Dopamine nation - Finding Balance in the age of Indulgence” by Dr Anna Lemke (2021)

With thanks to Susan Reynard

Declaration: This article has not been the product of a Chat GPT bot.

*Tony de Gouveia is a Clinical Psychologist and Resilience Coach in Private Practice at the Akeso and Life Brackenview Clinics in Alberton. He is the founder of the Positive Psychology Group(PPG) in Johannesburg and has made numerous presentations on various topics in Psychology, Positive Psychology and Resilience in various forums Nationally and Internationally.

https://tonydeGouveiaPsychologist.webs.com

Trustees: Your New Duty to Report Beneficial Owners

By Rui Marto*

South Africa has been greylisted by global financial crime watchdog the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for not fully complying with international standards around the prevention of money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing. This has led government to hurriedly introduce new “Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing” measures to combat financial crimes. One of those measure is a new requirement for trustees to disclose all “beneficial owners” of trusts.

Rui Marto

The Trust Property Control Act, 1988 (“the Act”) was recently amended in order to provide for, amongst

others, the establishment and maintenance of registers of beneficial owners of trusts by trustees and the Master of the High Court and the recording of the details of accountable institutions by trustees.

With effect from 1 April 2023, trustees are obligated to lodge and keep up-to-date records of the beneficial

ownership of trusts. This amendment places a burden of responsibility on trustees to record with The Master of the High Court comprehensive data regarding beneficial ownership of trusts.

“B E n E fici AL own ER ” h A s A wid E d E fini T ion

The Act defines ‘beneficial ownership’ to include the founders, trustees, named beneficiaries and any individuals who exercise effective control of any trust.

“Beneficial owner” means a natural person who directly or indirectly ultimately owns the relevant trust property, natural person who benefit from the trust property or a natural person who exercises effective control of the administration of the trust arrangements that are established pursuant to a trust instrument. These provisions are intended to ensure transparency with regard to ownership of trust property and to assist in the investigation of financial crimes.

s o, wh AT shou L d you do now?

Trustees are required by section 11A of the Act to lodge the registers of the prescribed information of beneficial owners of trusts with the Master of the High Court. According to regulation 3D trustees are required to lodge beneficial ownership registers electronically on a platform that must be provided by the Master of the High Court.

Trustees must lodge the registers of the prescribed information of beneficial owners of trusts with the Master of the High Court. Go to the Master’s “Trust Beneficial Ownership Register” page and follow the instructions there.

Only trustees are permitted to record the data with the Master of High Court. However, the authority to upload the beneficial ownership data on behalf of a trustee can be given to a Trust Administrator under a Power of Attorney from the trustees.

PE n ALT i E s fo R non-co MPL i A nc E

A trustee who fails to comply with the above provisions and is convicted of any of the offences referred to above will be liable to a fine of up to R10 million, or imprisonment for a period of up to five years, or to both such fine and imprisonment.

A beneficial owner of a trust is always a natural person. Where a founder, a beneficiary or a trustee of a trust is a legal person, or a person acting on behalf of a partnership or in pursuance of provisions of a trust, then the natural person who directly or indirectly ultimately owns or exercises effective control of that legal person or partnership or the relevant trust property or trust arrangements is the beneficial owner of the trust in question and their details must be recorded in the beneficial ownership register of the trust in question. Natural persons who do not necessarily fall under the definition of a founder, a trustee or a beneficiary of a trust, but who directly or indirectly ultimately owns the relevant trust property, or who exercises effective control of the administration of the trust arrangements, are also beneficial owners and their details must also be recorded in the beneficial ownership register of the trust.

I urge you to take immediate action to ensure compliance with these new requirements to avoid any penalties. Contact your attorney or trust administrator to assist trustees to digitally submit all the required information under a Power of Attorney and maintaining compliance with the amended Trust Property Control Act.

rui@martolafitte.co.za

*Rui Marto is a practising attorney, founder and director of attorneys Marto Lafitte & Assoc Inc, in Bedfordview specializing in commercial and property law. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree and Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Witwatersrand. He is also an executive director of the SA-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Chairman of the EU Chamber of Commerce.

Developing hydrogen and wind offshore wind power will reduce country’s energy dependence

Minister of Environment and Climate Action, Duarte Cordeiro, at the opening of the ceramic firm Revigrés photovoltaic power plant, Águeda, 12 April 2023

The Portuguese Minister of Environment and Climate Action Duarte Cordeiro claimed that developing hydrogen and offshore wind power will allow the country to reduce its energy dependence.

The Minister also said the Government is speeding up the process to licence solar power production and the renewal of the wind turbines with greatest productivity, supporting energy generation via hydrogen and counting on offshore wind power generation to reach 80% of renewables by 2026.

"Portugal has reached 70% autonomy, but we know this happens mostly in Autumn and Winter, when it is windy and the dams are full and offshore wind power can guarantee production throughout the year", he explained.

Duarte Cordeiro was speaking at the opening of the ceramic firm Revigrés solar power plant in Águeda, which will supply around 20% of the power consumed by the industry in its production process. This was an investment upwards of 14 million euros, backed by the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and funded by equity at 50%.

"Revigrés is an example on all levels, and it was already so before the RRF because it had a great capacity to

reuse the resources from its production process", said the Minister, adding that the company intends to build a hydrogen plant to depend less on natural gas.

During his visit, where several industrialists heard him speak, the Minister recalled that the consequences of the war in Ukraine were felt in the rising energy prices, which the Government tried to mitigate.

"We have had a series of mechanisms to cut down prices, such as the famous Iberian mechanism, the 4.5-billion-euro investment we made to reduce the feed-in tariffs, which has allowed the liberalised market to offer the lowest prices of the last nine years and also allowed electricity prices in the regulated market to go down 3% in April, as well as the mechanism we adopted for companies that consume over 10 thousand cubic metres of gas, which has allowed us to cut down the price of gas by approximately 26% since the start of the year", he offered as an example.

Duarte Cordeiro further claimed that Portugal has "instruments that guarantee that prices will not go up much during the year and we are doing two things: speeding up the introduction of renewables, which will give us guarantees of low prices in the future and, at the same time, applying a set of instruments that allow us to contain market prices, avoiding an impact on households and companies".

Prime Minister praises joint World cup 2030 bid from Portugal, Spain, Morocco and Ukraine

e therefore have all the conditions in place to A partners, as well as fifA partners, to host global sporting events", he added.

ednesday the spanish and Portuguese prime ministers welcomed Morocco's move to join their bid, saying it boosted their chances of hosting

think this bid by the iberian Peninsula with Morocco is very positive," Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio osta told a joint news conference with his spanish sanchez on the spanish island of

t sends an important message to the entire world and especially Europe and Africa, since it says that we are two neighbouring continents, two continents that want to work together," he added.

t is the first time that a joint bid is presented from both sides of the Mediterranean, a bid between Africa think this can only help to unite that which can't be separated."

anchez, meanwhile, said Morocco joining the bid pain and Portugal's joint candidacy in better shape to win the race".

sport are not instruments of war, rather vehicles of peace and dialogue between peoples. The history of mankind is filled with good examples on how through sport, in this case football, we can return to peace, tolerance and understanding in the world", he claimed.

"The impact of sporting events, the number of people who attend and the emotions felt make sport a platform with a singular reach and potential that must be utilised for this purpose too," he said.

António costa claimed that Portugal "is a reference partner in uEfA" and reiterated the willingness to continue working with uEfA, recalling hosting the final stage of the nations League, the eight-final of the champions League in 2020, and the champions final in 2021, both in a pandemic context.

The Prime Minister announced Portugal’s bid to host the final of the uEfA women’s champions League in 2025 and praised the feats of the women’s football team which for the first time qualified for a world cup final stage.

The 2026 world cup will be co-hosted by the united states, Mexico and canada with 48 teams playing a total of 104 matches.

Prime Minister António Costa with the UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin during the 47th UEFA Congress, Lisbon, 5 April 2023

(photo: Miguel A. Lopes/Lusa)

Invista com a SAPOR por mínimo período de 1 ano e receba taxa de juros fixa entre 11 – 12,25%, pago trimestralmente nas vossas contas bancárias Termos e condições aplicáveis, “ligada a taxa do Reserve Bank”.

Starting again #3 –Was I honourable?

By Allon Raiz*

this series of articles, which SAPCC will be sharing, Allon Raiz draws on his more than 20 years of experience in business and in supporting over 13 000 entrepreneurial businesses to offer insights on the considerations and steps needed to start again and achieve the highest likelihood of success.

Allon Raiz

Many entrepreneurs will have no option but to close down their businesses. With the ravaging effects COVID-19 has had on the economy, formal employment may not be an alternative for many. Starting again is the only choice available for these entrepreneurs. In

A friend of mine recently started a new business after closing down his old one. After four years of struggling to keep the old business afloat, he finally took the brave decision to shut it down and start a new business in a related field in which he could take advantage of his expertise, his relationships and his clients.

What struck me about the way he approached the business closure (or zero hour) was the transparency and honour with which he conducted himself. Six months before zero hour, the actual point at which he submitted his final documents relating to closing down the business, he started a process of having conversations with his major suppliers and told them about his intentions. To his surprise, all but one continued to supply him in that business and also committed to supplying his new business with easier terms to aid in the rebirth.

Three months before zero hour, he started engaging with his major clients to float his new business idea with them. In doing so, he combined market research with relationship building, while also conditioning clients to the approaching change.

Two months before zero hour, he began having discussions with his senior team about his intended plans, and was transparent about the fact that it would be impossible to take them all across to the new business. This balanced the need to give them enough time to make alternative arrangements with the need to prevent productivity fallout if the discussion was held too far in advance. A week later, he informed his full team about the situation.

In this instance, the transition between the new and old businesses was relatively seamless. His suppliers continued to supply him (albeit with different products), he brought across trusted senior management and staff to help him run the new business, and his clients continued to support him.

This was in stark contrast to another entrepreneur in my personal circle. In that case, the entrepreneur let his senior team know a week before he was closing down, and his staff on the day they were issued with retrenchment notices. He made no attempt to communicate with his suppliers (who by this time were screaming at him for payment via phone and email), and he made absolutely no attempt to communicate with his clients.

In my opinion, he acted in a completely dishonourable manner and the consequences were predictable . . . When he started his new business in a related industry, only one of his four senior team members was willing to join him, and he had to start a recruiting new staff from scratch as none of his previous employees trusted him. Although many of his previous clients entertained his approaches and even agreed to purchase from and support him, none of his former suppliers was prepared to supply him. This meant he had to go through the painful process of setting up cash-on-delivery relationships with new suppliers which, of course, had an impact on his cash flow.

While I don’t have all the context and details of these two cases, and while one should not judge other people’s situations and how they respond to them, I ask myself: If I were in the predicament of having to close down my business, which of these two approaches would I take?

The first approach does have its risks. It requires far more effort and vulnerability, and it can result in a situation where you prematurely have demotivated staff. A demotivated staff complement may accelerate zero hour thus potentially reducing the time available to ensure the new business is ready to launch. Competitors finding out about your predicament early will most likely result in them making aggressive moves in the market place to take advantage of your now known weakened position. Suppliers who hear about your potential business demise may become skittish and not extend vital credit thus accelerating the time to zero hour.

This situation is the one that entrepreneurs most fear –that they will be forced to close their businesses at a point when their Plan B is not yet in play.

It seems some entrepreneurs believe there is a trade-off between, on the one hand, being honourable but losing strategic control and, on the other hand, being less honourable and less transparent but gaining strategic control. In reality, any strategic advantage you gain by using the latter approach is short term at best. In the long term, it is the complete opposite.

What those who act dishonourably forget is that we live in a relatively small ecosystem where our reputations are critically important to our long-term success. Before I do business with someone new, I research them. I Google them, and check Facebook and LinkedIn to see if we have any common friends or associates. I immediately call these mutual acquaintances to get a GBU (a good, bad or ugly) reference on the individual concerned. A good means the person is trustworthy and a good operator, a bad is a “don’t touch this person as they are not ethical” and an ugly is “this person may be a nice person but is not a good entrepreneur.”

Good entrepreneurs with good reputations are ones that we tend to see rebounding successfully in a new business over the long term. Guard your reputation at all costs because, when it comes down to it, your reputation is as my father taught me “the most important asset in your life.”

My advice to anyone facing a zero-hour moment is to start putting together a Plan B immediately and, once that plan has been researched and rigour tested to some extent by trusted confidantes, to begin the move to Plan B in a transparent and honourable manner as quickly as possible.

*About Allon Raiz

Allon Raiz is the CEO of Raizcorp. In 2008, Raiz was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, and in 2011 he was appointed for the first time as a member of the Global Agenda Council on Fostering Entrepreneurship. Following a series of entrepreneurship master classes delivered at Oxford University in 2014, 2015 and 2016, Raiz has been recognised as the Entrepreneurin-Residence at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School. Follow Allon on Twitter: www.twitter.com/allonraiz

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