The Lisbon Metropolitan Area Digital Trade Accelerator assigned 13,292 vouchers to 3,958 companies in the trade and services sectors, with a total investment of 6.8 million euros in digitalization processes. This program, funded by the Recovery and Resilience Plan, ended with an execution rate above 100%, a significant milestone considering that the previous year this rate was only 4%.
The program was created by a consortium led by AIP, which included the Sintra Business Association, the National Association of Young Entrepreneurs, IDSET – Portuguese Association for Innovation and Development, and the Association of Commerce, Industry, Services and Tourism of the District of Setúbal. The seven digital trade accelerators operated in the regions of Lisbon, Centro, Norte, Alentejo, Algarve, Madeira and Azores.
The project will be completed by December 2026, with the elaboration of the digital maturity report, an instrument that will allow evaluating the effects and impact of the investments made by the benefiting micro and small companies.
José Eduardo Carvalho, president of AIP, stated that going from an execution rate of approximately 4% to over 100% demonstrates what can be achieved when there is close monitoring, decision-making capacity and strong coordination among the different stakeholders. He emphasized that more important than the numbers is the impact these investments will have on the digital transformation of thousands of micro and small companies, strengthening their competitiveness and adaptability.
