"I'm not going to talk to you about the future here, but since the theme is 'Future Portugal', I think it's my duty to say why I think we have good reasons to be confident in the future and to believe that, certainly, the future is better than the present, I do not say this out of a matter of faith, nor out of voluntarist optimism", stated António Costa.

The prime minister, who was speaking at the Manuel António da Mota Award ceremony, which took place at Porto Customs, also stated that the country “enjoys greater freedom” after “overcoming decades of budgetary imbalance”.

“Today the country fortunately enjoys greater freedom in its choices regarding the future. The fact that we have overcome decades of budgetary imbalance and today we have a situation without the need to raise taxes or cut expenses, and we have a balanced budget, this translates into something of the greatest democratic and political importance,” he stated.

António Costa highlighted that this freedom will allow the Portuguese to choose the programs they want, but also “reserve the balances to invest in the future, reserve the balances to face vicissitudes in the future, use the balance to reduce revenue and use the balance to increase expenses ”.

“This achievement and this degree of freedom is something that gives us confidence regarding our future”, he added.

Among the various “objective reasons” that he said supported confidence in the future, the prime minister highlighted the fight against poverty, the economic fabric, the attraction of investment and the qualification of human resources.

António Costa also considered that Portugal could play an important role in combating climate change, not only “with words”, but with actions, ensuring new forms of energy production and consumption.

“Portugal can face this challenge with confidence”, he considered, reinforcing that there are “good reasons to trust in the future”.