Milan, Italy, Feb. 23, 2026 (Lusa) - The secretary of state for the economy on Monday highlighted the "additional advantage" of the Portuguese footwear industry under the trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and Mercosur, where "more than two-thirds of customers" speak Portuguese.

"I think the [agreement with] Mercosur has an additional advantage: We have to consider that the Portuguese language is spoken by more than two-thirds of customers in Mercosur and Portuguese companies can be a platform for doing business" in that region, said João Rui Ferreira in statements to journalists on the sidelines of a visit to the Portuguese delegation, which from Sunday to Tuesday is participating in the Micam footwear fair in Milan, Italy.

As for the trade agreement between the EU and India, the minister noted that "the customs duties [that India paid] in Europe were already relatively low," but considered that with the agreement "there may be some balance."

"These agreements are apparently different from the point of view of this sector [footwear], because while in [Mercosur] we are talking about a potential market growth for Portugal to export, because it is already a market with customers with different purchasing power, India is perhaps a little different, even though for every percentage of the population that grows in purchasing power we are always talking about a large market," he said.

He pointed out that the main objective of these agreements is to "give Portuguese companies access to these markets", as part of a strategy to diversify export destinations.

"Our focus is really on market diversification. Today we are talking about Portugal's economic resilience as a country, in a very difficult context, but resilience also means diversifying markets and making the right bets, and this sector has already done this," he emphasised.

As examples, he pointed to "South Korea, Japan and some markets in Eastern Europe, where purchasing power is clearly growing and where Portuguese footwear is well positioned".

"Even the United States, despite the difficult times, [...] is a market that Portuguese industry cannot abandon, because it is clearly a market where purchasing power is very high and to which we export high value-added products," he argued.

Reiterating that market diversification is part of the "resilience strategy for the country" outlined by the government, João Rui Ferreira assured that the government "is available to continue to support this diversification".

In this context, he noted that the internationalisation strategy for the footwear sector for 2026-27 "is finalised and stabilised" after "a long negotiation process", now allowing the sector "to have stability and predictability of work for the coming years".

The secretary of state also emphasised the Government's willingness to "support the sector's growth in the value chain", finding customers with greater added value that will enable the value of exported products to be multiplied.

"We want consumers to increasingly recognise that “Portuguese Shoes” or “Made in Portugal” already have a lot of added value, and I think that this is already an indisputable fact today," because "there is no doubt that Portugal has positioned itself very well in terms of quality, service level, responsiveness, sustainability and technology," he said.

As for the difficulties that companies still face in the process of creating their own brands, João Rui Ferreira considered that they stem from the "fundamental issue" related to the need to "give scale and dimension to companies", since "creating a brand requires a continued investment of significant capital".

"And we are moving in that direction, because today we have design schools that are increasingly well prepared in different areas of the country," he said, also pointing out the potential for “networking” between companies, for example through the creation of "joint commercial departments."

When questioned by journalists about the labour reform negotiations, the minister stressed that they are based "on a logic of always increasing productivity" and are not "against anyone".

"It is an agreement to grow the Portuguese economy in a highly competitive context, with many variables, not only from the domestic market, but also global ones, and therefore it is an ongoing process," he concluded.

PD/AYLS // AYLS

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