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Archived: Luncheon with the Minister of State Reform Prof. Dr. Gonçalo Matias

Luncheon with the Minister of State Reform, Prof. Dr. Gonçalo Matias

September 19, 2025 | Sheraton Lisbon Hotel

Main Sponsor: Deloitte

Governo diz que interoperabilidade é um objetivo fundamental – Observador

AmCham Portugal welcomed the Minister of State Reform, Prof. Dr. Gonçalo Saraiva Matias, for a fully booked luncheon-debate focused on one of the country’s most structural issues: State Reform.

In his opening remarks, António Martins da Costa, Chairman of AmCham Portugal, highlighted key data to frame the discussion:

  • Only 15% of the workforce are public servants (also below the European average);

  • The State should be seen as an organization that, like a company, must deliver services and resources efficiently.

Minister Gonçalo Matias presented a strategy based on three pillars: simplification, digitalization, and people. He emphasized that processes must first be redesigned and only then digitalized, leveraging the full potential of technology, particularly artificial intelligence, to accelerate responses in critical areas such as licensing.

Key points from his intervention included:

  • People and businesses must be at the center of the State’s operations;

  • A Portuguese entrepreneur loses 750 hours per year to bureaucracy (while in Estonia it is zero);

  • Interoperability between public services is a fundamental goal to comply with the “Only Once” Principle: “What we have today is illegal. The State cannot continue to request the same document multiple times”;

  • GDPR and privacy cannot be barriers to reform: countries like Estonia or Denmark demonstrate that interoperability and data protection can coexist;

  • A trust contract with citizens: “It is our priority to leave no one behind, even those with low digital literacy”;

  • Economic impact of bureaucracy: delays and redundancies cost up to €10 billion per year;

  • Lack of Public Administration reform results in lost investment and jobs;

  • Public servants as allies: they are also victims of inefficient processes that delay services and strain relations with citizens.

During the Fireside Chat with Miguel Eiras Antunes (Partner, Deloitte), it was reinforced that “it is the State that must organize itself around people, as a single entity” and that simplification is also a tool against corruption by removing incentives arising from bureaucracy.

The vision presented by the Minister is supported by the Prime Minister and the Government as a whole and is aligned with the European Commission’s agenda and Portugal’s Presidency of the D9+ group. The appointment of the State’s first Chief Technology Officer and the expansion of the Citizens’ Shops network complement this transformation.

More than an administrative reform, this is a strategic movement to give back time, trust, and opportunities to Portuguese citizens, placing people and businesses at the center of State action.

AmCham Portugal thanks Minister Gonçalo Matias, Deloitte for their support, and all participants for attending.

Photography: Diana Quintela / MARE | AmCham Portugal

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