OGMA created 600 jobs and doubled turnover

OGMA, Indústria Aeronáutica de Portugal, created more than 600 direct jobs and doubled turnover from 140 to 290 million euros in the 20 years since the State privatised 65% of the capital and handed the management over to the Brazilian aeronautical company Embraer.

And now "the Outlook is to triple turnover from 290 million to 1 billion euros in five years", namely due to engine maintenance, said Prime Minister Luís Montenegro at the ceremony to commemorate OGMA’s 20th privatisation anniversary in Alverca, Vila Franca de Xira.

OGMA’s privatisation is an example. Twenty years ago, during Prime Minister Durão Barroso’s Government, the state enterprise was at a deadlock and facing the possibility of shutting down, but when the privatisation was decided "this decision was anything but consensual" Luís Montenegro recalled. 

"There were doubts, many stated their pessimism as to the model being suggested and later decided on, for this truly public-private partnership", as the State still holds 35% of the capital.

However, "sometimes, in fact, it is worth going against the tide, it is worth taking a risk, it is worth daring, fulfilling a conviction, a model that is sustained. We are not talking about adventures, we are talking about sustained projects that have been studied and grounded", he added.

Investing in defence

In the coming years, there will be "a highly significant path of claiming investments in the field of defence", the Prime Minister said; the European Union is taking its final steps towards approving a 150-billion-euro funding package, which should be concluded in the European Council on 20 and 21 March.

"Spending more money on defence does not mean buying more, it means boosting our production capabilities to produce more and buy more from our own industry. That is what we desire on a Portuguese scale and within the European context. We need to buy more from one another inside Europe", he stated.

Prime Minister Luís Montenegro was with the Ministers of National Defence and Economy, Nuno Melo and Pedro Reis, respectively.