PORTUGAL HAS STARTED TO SAIL ON DEEP WATERS...
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By Miguel Martins de Menezes
One day while reading a working paper from "Customs & Excise"/( English customs) and Belastingdienst/(Dutch Customs), I wondered why all cargo destinated to the southern countries of Europe as their final destination, were paying customs duties and VAT on Northern Europe, generating a incalculable financial "cash flow" together with huge tax gaps that where damaging financially Portugal.
I was looking for all cargo coming out of Brazil and Far East; electronics, wood, meat, coffee, furniture, fruit (amongst many other commodities), passing through Northern Europe and then being reforwarded to the South … It hasn’t absolutely no logic! On that day, I have observed how they were calculated, the fiscal systems on transit countries, VAT agents, charging high fees derived from the economic advantages afforded to the final recipients (main of them foreign corporations), without the possibility to see the extension of the economic damage of those actions on the final destination country . Sometimes millions and millions of taxes were simply sucked from the genuine owner of the taxes, with repercussions on deflation caused by that time lapse and other prejudice not analyzed here (that would be a subject for a deep analysis on our economy with a legal action against Europe that shall be initiated on the European courts of justice by a credible Portuguese Governement!).
I have realized that all these wealth were daily passing trough the Portugal´s shore with final destination North Atlantic without the Portugueses having a state of awareness of the fact. After all, the Schengen area of free movement of goods in Europe, was just a dead letter, in the sense that in reality the free movement of goods are permitted, but these goods are absolutely controlled by the North Atlantic countries and all tax revenues, trillions of Euros , even temporarily available on theese countries, were fueling economic systems of regions that were not the logical destination of the cargo, not only because of tax damages, the extension of it is massive!
At same time, the unnatural increase of transport time originated by the passage of North European Countries, have attracted large distribution centers from central Asia to Northern Europe. With one hand Europe was paying us to destroy our fishing industry, horticultural production and own products, filling our markets with goods produced in other countries. Paradoxically Europe ask us for austerity after destroying our productive system. This is the Europe that wanted to level the development of its member countries, and now wants a state of dependence made out with Machiavellian purposes, very obscure indeed...For one side Europe paid us to stop producing, arguing our products are excendentes, but after do it do not use the same criteria in what I call the monopoly of the farse "Schengen Agreement" to pull the trigger of the gun on our own head.
The inability of the Portuguese realize the extent of their past projects, reflects a present full of questions ... Portugal is "offline", looking to Europe and looking for a future that never arrives. Portugal lives depressed between past and future, lost his own self-esteem and credibility, sold his own consciousness to the despair of an unanswered numbness. During the years of Salazar´s dictatorship, Europe was smiling with irony and sarcasm, saying that we were part of North Africa... Today Portugal looks back to the gray past of recent history, incapable to look for the future, without being able to see it, blinded by his own proximity. Portugal has a strategic geographical solution under nose, something so obvious that Portugal till recently could not see!
My route for more than twenty-seven countries on three continents have allowed me enough distance to see the mess, not only glimpse the tree, but also feel the forest, all problems that Portugal were passing through. I was looking for the same people who built one of the most dauntless empires of the planet, the father of modern commercialism and the actual globalization phenomenon . One day, without realize, light came up on my brain...
Unfortunately I I was seeing every day goods from India, Far East and Australasia, passing daily on our waters, addressed to the North Atlantic, to the ports of Southampton, Felixstowe, London, Hamburg, Antwerp and Rotterdam. While Portugal was looking to Europe, all wealth was bypassing the portuguese territory, passing on our "backyard", and at same time Portugal was being blinded by Europe, could not see it... The same applies to all goods originating in South America, something that violates the most elementary rules of logistics in terms of transport time and costs! This rule applies not only for sea transportation but as well on air freight , Portugal have one of the biggest natural logistic hubs from the planet...
Portugal has two deepwater ports, the port of Sines (one of the biggest and deeper sea ports from Europe) and Matosinhos. The Port of Sines was planned and built for super-tankers doubling Cape Town during the Arab-Israeli war in the Suez Canal, when this artificially built channel, found itself mined and impassable. At that time, Portugal have invested billions building this gigantic port, together a massive oil refinery designed to receive all the oil crude from the Gulf countries. The end of the war opened the Suez Canal and destroyed the original idea annihilating the Sines project. The Super-tankers (although there are still some crossing the oceans) were dismantled and replaced by vessels with a smaller capacity in order to address the limitations of the European ports, thus destroying the original idea of a port for super-tankers. These smaller ships began to head for the ports of Northern Europe, and the Port of Sines project become a giant ghost sunked in the cause of it´s own construction and conceptual design.
Is time to change the course of history and face the problem with credible solutions, something that in my opinion Portugal can do, albeit with some difficulties and pitfalls, within the next ten years.
1.0-The plan to fight against the current state of the country and turn possible the claim of the european leadership as it follows:
Currently the super-containers from the Far East are being driven for the North European ports like London, Southampton, Felixstowe, Hamburg, Antwerp (Anvers) and Rotterdam. Only the port of Rotterdam has more cargo than all other European ports together. All money relative to import costs, VAT are located in England, Germany Belgium and Netherlands. Portugal can change this trend and become the gateway to Europe for two reasons:
a) - The actual shipping transit time from the Far East to Rotterdam through the Suez Chanel is apx. 30 to 35 days (depending on the vessels shipping schedule/stops along the route).
b) - If those same ships would have Sines / Portugal as their final destination, the shipping time transit immediately shortens to around 20/22 days (or less, depending on Far East origins), with lower costs, because the distances that ships will have to travel, will be much lower rather the currently practiced course via North European Countries. This factor will reduce the cost of the shipping companies, which increasingly betting on "Megacarriers", fewer stops, and increased logistics of loading, using small boats over short distances, gathering all cargo hubs chosen rationally.
C) Suez Canal will steel be in use, and its importance will continue to be huge, after the initial phase of the project, because the final strategy will be through Panama (*) with a Trans-Pacific route from Japan, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapoore, Australia and other Far Eastean countries directly to the coast of South America / Panama, wich enlargement for the double size will be ready on 2014. Actually a ship from China to Panama (the current Panamax vessels) takes about nineteen days to arrive to Panama, reaching Portugal in 26/27 days completely beating the current 30/45 days from the North European countries (depending on the stops) to Rotterdam via the Suez Canal. Due to Shipping lines actual policy in order to reduce velocity / cost, their natural routing will be Portugal.Northern Europe via the Panama Canal, with the new policy of cutting costs will be much less competitive, in conjunction with the Atlantic seaboard of Portugal it will be the gateway to modern Europe, the Silk Road of the present century!
The advantage of Sines it´s not located in the number of days caused by the new course / time transit, but the main reason it is on his natural access fluidity both (inshore/offshore) the European continent. The shipping companies have already realized that reducing the speed of the ships from 25 knots to 15 knots, can gaining economies of scale using "Megacarriers" / Supercontainers, thus avoiding unnecessary ascent of the North Atlantic without losing profitability on travel frequency along time together with standby time on the ports for berthing when are in front of a Port like Sines...
Portugal must invest more on Sines and other ports structures, look for the "design" of another deepwater port in Aveiro or Figueira da Foz (center), invest on a deep sea port where currently lies the jewel of its crown! Millions of years ago, when the 4 intercontinental plates: South America, North America, Africa and Europe, collided one with the others, the jewel of Portugal was born ... Azores!
Portugal It´s naturally an Atlantic country, not a Mediterranean nation where only olives are allowed to grow... When Germany says: " Portugal is being to much ambitious!" Is a great sign for Portugal. What is not good for Europe is great for our country!
NOTE (*): This is a very short extract from a macroeconomic project called "Solution Portugal" - Created in 2004 and turned public in October of 2011.
Miguel Martins de Menezes
