The economic strength of the municipality of Vila Nova de Famalicão, the Famalicão Made IN project and the work that the municipality has been doing to boost and promote entrepreneurial activity were the themes that led the Mayor of Vila Nova de Famalicão, Mário Passos, to attend the first edition of the Local Summit yesterday,

The initiative, promoted by the economic newspaper ECO, took place on Tuesday 19th November at the Lisbon Cultural Centre in Belém.

Famalicão has a ‘natural entrepreneurial DNA’, he said. And while before, ‘our companies were very individualised and closed, now they know each other, work and develop solutions together, they are interconnected with each other, but also with other entities in the municipality, such as technology centres, academia, vocational schools,’ he said.

Mário Passos, together with the vice-president of Aveiro City Council, Rogério Carlos, the vice-president of Oeiras City Council, Francisco Rocha Gonçalves, and the secretary-general of the Business Roundtable Portugal Association, Pedro Ginjeira Nascimento, were invited to address the topic of ‘local government as a driver of entrepreneurial activity’.

The debate also served to call for more autonomy for local authorities. ‘Economic development often comes up against bureaucratic processes imposed by the central administration itself,’ said the mayor of Famalicense, an idea shared by the other speakers.

‘The impediments to ever greater development are great. If we have more freedom to decide, we will be making a greater contribution to the country,’ said Mário Passos.

This Tuesday, at the Lisbon Cultural Centre, the first Local Summit brought together mayors from various municipalities, academics, experts and businesspeople to debate issues associated with the future of Portuguese cities, such as the creation of smart cities, the power of territorial marketing, retaining and attracting talent, among others.