“I don’t understand if these people want us to be the Cuba of Europe”, warns leader of the owner of Pingo Doce

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Pedro Soares dos Santos considers, in an interview with “Portugal Ajante”, that Portugal “could be the California of Europe” but instead, and taking into account the possible stigma against large companies, he questions whether some political forces do not want Portugal to be “the Cuba of Europe”.

Pedro Soares dos Santos, president of Jerónimo Martins, owner of Pingo Doce, criticized, in an interview with “Portugal Ajante”, what he considers a lack of vision on the part of politicians for the country twenty years ago, at a time when proposals for the country as part of the campaign for the March 10 legislative elections.

“I don’t think there is anyone. And just watch some political debates and some programs and you can see that no one is worried about the future. They are worried about the next elections. And this is disastrous for all of us”, highlighted Pedro Soares dos Santos.

For the leader of Jerónimo Martins, the disillusionment in relation to the current political leadership class in Portugal “is very great. Nobody is thinking about how Portugal should position itself in a European Union that we all know will grow even more and nobody wants to know what role we want to play in economic terms in the current European Union and in the future”.

Pedro Soares dos Santos considers that in the debates no one talked about Portugal in the European Union and that Portugal is only talked about for funds: “But to have funds you have to have projects. To have projects you have to have ideas. And to have ideas you have to have very good people in leadership. This gap currently exists in Portugal and is extremely dangerous. It is not in vain that young people leave Portugal. It’s because they don’t feel that this exists. I’m very sorry because Portugal is a wonderful country. It could be the California of Europe.”

Regarding the stigma that may exist in relation to large companies and large groups in Portugal, Pedro Soares dos Santos considers that “everything should change” because “when wealth is not created, it is not shared”.

“When wealth is not created, absolutely nothing is shared. And today we are under a discourse against the creation of wealth. I don’t understand if these people want us to be the Cuba of Europe”, highlights this business leader.

The leader of the group that owns Pingo Doce considers that “at the moment we are only talking about taxes, but taxes have to be charged for the wealth that is produced. It’s not because of what people have. I can’t understand what these people mean by taking away from others the wealth that others produce and share. And that is Portugal’s problem. Nobody like. Right now we have a speech from a class that doesn’t like to work. He has lived his entire life on state budgets and only thinks about distributing alms. Don’t think about how to create this wealth. And that worries me a lot.”