"If the textile sector was as slow as the government today, there was no textile industry"

Today was the day of the textile industry show "pride" in the work done in recent years, and present a yellow card to the government. There have been several criticisms of the energy costs of taxation, not to mention the rise in the national minimum wage or the financing of businesses. And the conclusion can only be one: "If the textile sector was as slow as the government, today there was no textile industry," said Paulo Melo, President of the ATP – Portuguese Association of Textiles and Clothing, on the sidelines of the XXth Forum. Textiles in Famalicão.

The Minister of Economy, Manuel Caldeira Cabral, had announced shortly before an audience rich in entrepreneurs of the sector, opening a new line of 600 million euros to support exports and support Portuguese companies who want to work in the market, also facilitating the financing of customers who want to buy their products.

The Minister even admitted that this line could be strengthened in the future. But Paulo Melo was not enthusiastic: "Incentives can help exports, but corporate financing remains difficult and capital is still far from affordable, especially for SMEs, and therefore a constraint on growth and investment "he says

The tables presented by the Minister of the Economy and by the entrepreneur and the association leader diverged more points. While Caldeira Cabral has bet on a drop in electricity rates for the first time in 18 years, Paulo Melo believes that "energy is still too expensive," not to mention that "tariffs account for 40% of total bill ".

In the case of your group of companies, Somelos, the monthly bill is about 300 thousand euros and 40% of this amount are fees, exemplifies. "Nothing helps the industry," adds the head of the association, who in his talk on the state of the sector speaks of "consecutive increases", of the order of 30% since the beginning of the year, to this post that represents the largest cost and makes a comparison with Germany, where "the average price is 40% lower than that of Portugal".

Wages and Textile Pride

Paulo Melo also speaks of "excessive taxation" and points to the "excessive rigidification of the legal framework of labor", lamenting the end of the opening hours of each bank and the constraints on fixed-term contracts. As for the possibility of a minimum salary of 600 €, the ATP admits the rise, but considers that companies must receive counterparts, namely taxes. After all, he says, "since this government took office, (the minimum wage) has increased by 15%, far beyond inflation and productivity gains."

However, the Minister prefers to recall that "there was an agreement in the social consultation", there are employers who say that it is possible to cross the barrier of 600 € and, given the In the recent past, the increase in the minimum wage "coexisted with the second largest increase in job creation in the European Union and an 11% increase in exports." Even so, he argued that "realism" is necessary in the definition of the minimum wage, then avoiding to explain what it means exactly in value.

Regarding textiles, Caldeira Cabral praised this industry, which reached, in 2017, the eighth consecutive year of export growth and a record sales figure of 5.2 billion euros on the foreign market, create a job, with a net balance of 12,853 jobs over the last three years.

In the national economy as a whole, today 's "Textile Day" represents 3% of GDP, 10% of exports and 20% of total employment. Legitimate pride "as a case of international success, projecting the Made in Portugal in the world, as summarized by Paulo Melo.