The Government presented in Porto the Business Digital Wallet, a solution that centralises in a single digital channel all of a company’s official documents in a secure and updated way, legally applicable and without the need to using multiple portals or hard copies. This measure is included in the State reform and Public Administration modernisation strategy, placing Portugal at the forefront of digital innovation.
"We want companies to be increasingly concentrated in their task of generating wealth, tapping markets, hiring and retaining human resources", claimed the prime Minister at the launch ceremony, upholding that companies must not be obliged to give to the administration what the administration already has".
"We are in a good moment. Europe looks to us, to our companies, our human resources, particularly the younger and more qualified. Europe and the world look to our knack for technologies, Europe and the world look to our location, Europe and the world look to our safety, Europe and the world look to our strategy in fundamental areas such as energy and water", noted the Prime Minister, claiming that "today, Portugal is a stable country, with high competitiveness factors that make it ever more appealing".
"We need ambition, confidence and transformative capability" - factors that can be boosted with the Business Digital Wallet.
During the ceremony, the Minister in the Cabinet of the Prime Minister and of State Reform Gonçalo Saraiva Matias placed the initiative as part of the Government’s transformation agenda: to place citizens and businesses at the core of State action. "Red tape eats up time for entrepreneurs, inhibits innovation and discourages investment. This wallet is essentially a simplification instrument and gives time back to entrepreneurs", he stated.
The Minister of Economy and Territorial Cohesion Castro Almeida and the Minister of Justice Rita Júdice also attended the ceremony.
The Business Digital Wallet is a central digital transformation instrument that combines all of a company’s documents in a single, secure platform integrated in the gov.pt app, fostering administrative efficiency and regulatory compliance.
In this first stage, the Business Digital Wallet combines all the documents essential to business activity – (Electronic) Company Card, Tax status, declaration on the company’s Social Security standing and central register of effective beneficiary, with automatic updates and real time validation using a QR Code.
The aim of this solution is to simplify the SMEs interaction with the State, eliminating hard copy certificates or occasional issues of such documents and makes it easier for public and private entities to accept these in public tenders, licenses, or trade negotiations.
This is yet another step in the State Reform, one that makes the country more competitive, significantly cuts down time searching for and checking documents, increases efficiency in internal and external procedures, and boosts digital interoperability, allowing for agile responses to administrative and legal requirements from licensing procedures to bidding in public tenders.
