“The ports of Portugal are an open gate to the European Union”.

This was Manuel Caldeira Cabral’s message as we chatted at the Boao Forum for Asia at the weekend.

“We are proud to be a door to the European market. This is how we see ourselves in the world.”

I’d applied for an interview with Cabral, Portugal’s economy minister, a couple of days earlier. He was in Boao for just one day, and had two panel sessions scheduled - it was a long shot, but just ahead of the opening ceremony his adviser called and said there was time for a 10-minute interview.

Cabral had many ways to adroitly and enthusiastically push his message. 

Portugal wants to be seen as a gateway to the European Union. Britain positioned itself similarly over the past decade, but now… there’s a space which EU members are scrambling to fill.  

Cabral and his prime minister António Costa are vocal supporters of the Belt and Road Initiative, and Portugal is a founding member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the institution which will help support the grand scheme. 

So how does he assess the projects so far?

“I think they are very interesting. Globalization has great gains. And there is still a lot of potential to realize. In the case of Portugal we are very open to trade, open for business, open for investment.”

I know, I know. But the Belt and Road. How is it progressing?

“This initiative of One Belt, One Road makes a lot of sense to us. We are promoting Portugal as a platform, both to get into the European Union and a big market of 500 million consumers of high income. 

“But also as a platform of connection with Africa and and South America, where we have Portuguese-speaking countries and we have very strong links that can be very interesting for the promotion of trade and the promotion of business around the world.”

But what can the Belt and Road achieve, more widely? 

“The first one is the openness to promote and to deepen the role on globalization of China, and to assume a role in the world stage as a partner to the United States, as a partner to the European Union. But also in concrete measures, like investment in ports and infrastructure, that help make and make more solid this commitment to be involved in world trade.”

The 10-minute chat quickly became 30. The dark-suited Cabral seems at ease, and open to any question. How about President Xi Jinping’s message at Davos: a new globalization, innovative economy, reject protectionism?

“It is a very interesting moment, where some countries have doubts about opening and about globalization, that China reaffirms that globalization has been good for development, and that globalization and trade openness are important forces for development.”

Cabral is definitely an optimist, and firmly focused on the future. Quick to smile, but firm and confident in his global outlook. He expounds powerfully on the role a forward-thinking European Union with a “positive agenda” should be playing in the world. 

The bloc should “be an open platform to maintain globalization.” But is the EU receptive to closer ties with China? Perhaps embracing the Belt and Road, or pursuing a free trade deal?

“I think most of the European Union countries are receptive to that. And they should be. I think the European Union was some years ago looking much more to establish links across the North Atlantic. I think we should maintain those efforts, but we should look at the EU as a leader, a world leader, that should establish relationships with all areas. 

“We can’t ignore that half of the growth in the world is happening in Asia, and Asia is an important partner of development in the world. China, and also India, are key partners in world development.”

The EU hasn’t shown that much interest in the Belt and Road though, has it? Former French PM Jean-Pierre Raffarin recently bemoaned European politicians’ lack of vision over the project.  

Is it understood in Europe? I meant in Brussels, by the European bloc. But Cabral looked a little affronted. “In our case… we really understood it quite well, the Belt and Road Initiative. And we had proposals that we were already working on with the Chinese government and Chinese firms, that are very consistent with One Belt, One Road. For us, the maritime road is very important.”

Cabral, for many years an academic, finds most things interesting. Opportunities, situations, past events. 

One of the most interesting opportunities is Portugal’s unique links to the wider Portuguese-speaking world. In Africa, and particularly in South America. 

“When you go to South America with the knowledge of the culture, and the knowledge of the local market that the Portuguese have, and also go with the scale and capability of investment the Chinese firms have, and the leverage they can bring, you can get a very interesting union, a very interesting marriage, and the results are very interesting.”

How about Europe? It’s in trouble isn’t it? What would a good deal for the EU be from Brexit?

“Europe has a lot of political change in the air, and has of course Brexit to negotiate. What I hope comes out of the Brexit negotiation is a negotiation where the relationships between the UK and the European Union remain, and we can still have all the benefits of the common market, all the benefits of the four liberties. 

“I hope Brexit doesn’t turn out to be a way for the UK to be more closed, to retreat itself to positions that I think would be very uninteresting for the UK, very damaging for the UK, but also damaging for the European Union.

“But we have to move forward, and move forward in parallel ways together. And I think the opportunities of opening for trade with China, of opening trade with South America, of being players in globalization, are there and we should embrace them, even if the UK is going to embrace them in a parallel way, outside the European Union.”

And with that, Cabral rushed away to take part in a very global group photo of leaders at Boao. 

Only to dash back when he realized he’d forgotten his phone.

Even the most sure-footed politician can make a mistake.