Lisbon, Nov. 11, 2025 (Lusa) - The Deputy Minister for State Reform, Gonçalo Matias, said on Monday at the opening of the Web Summit that he intends to "turn Portugal into a global centre for innovation" by creating a "favourable regulatory environment" for investment.
"The digital revolution offers a historic opportunity to create new industries, new jobs and new prosperity," he said.
Gonçalo Matias also mentioned the Portuguese Large Language Model (LLM), Amália, saying he wanted to "give every student an artificial intelligence (AI) tutor, who listens, guides and inspires learning".
"Amália is more than a model, it's a bridge between ideas and action, and a promise that technology, guided by our values, can transform society and create opportunities for all," he said.
Gonçalo Matias, who gave the event's opening speech, said that "Portugal is ready to be a centre of excellence in AI", considering the country "competitive in terms of costs" and with "global ambitions".
"Our country has all the necessary conditions to become a world leader in Artificial Intelligence," he added.
Regarding AI "gigafactories, the minister considered that Portugal is positioning itself as “one of the main European centres”, with an estimated investment of “over €16 billion”.
In his speech, the minister mentioned his intention to train Portuguese citizens for the digital world, stating that "the digital transformation is built by people".
"That's why we launched the digital skills pact, to train more than two million citizens by 2030 in basic and advanced digital skills," he added.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the Web Summit, the minister said that the "digital skills pact will be carried out in partnership with public and private organisations" and "even international organisations that are interested in helping Portugal".
"Here, the Web Summit is a great time to have these conversations, to talk to some of the world leaders in technology who can help us in this great endeavour to raise the digital skills and digital literacy of our population," he said, adding that the government will start with the Public Administration.
The document will be presented by the end of the year.
The minister also spoke about the national data centre strategy, revealing that it will be ready "between the end of the year and the beginning of next year".
"I can tell you right now that we have enormous interest from major international investors, chip manufacturers and the world's biggest technology companies in data centres," he said.
This edition of the Web Summit, which runs until 13 November, is expected to attract more than 70,000 participants, more than 2,500 startups exhibiting their products and services, and more than 1,000 investors.
The Web Summit began in Lisbon in 2016 and is to continue until 2028.
AJR/ADB // ADB.
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