GCNP: What do you see as the greatest challenges of this pandemic, for your organisation and for SMEs in general?

AA: AA: Immediately after the WHO announced the pandemic of the new coronavirus, the companies that are part of maCreativeProductionGroup had to adapt overnight to a new scenario never experienced before. The greatest challenge is to be able to protect the financial health of our organisation, be flexible, adopt new strategies and manage to anticipate and seize new business opportunities that arise in the meantime. Keeping employees motivated and productive working in new scenarios, such as home-office, is one of the main concerns of our organisation and I think of SMEs in general.

GCNP: What is your organisation doing specifically to respond to the new market challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic?

AA: For an immediate response to the challenges posed by the pandemic, we started by implementing a new workflow adapted to the new telework reality, which would guarantee the continued efficiency and quality that our customers (some of the largest national and international companies) demand. The next concern was to ensure the financial health that would enable the group's companies to face these more troubled times and to have the necessary tranquillity to focus on the essential, by defining a strategy that would help us get through these very difficult times.

With regard to the products we commercialise, our organisation has always been committed to the diversification of markets and products. This means that, on the one hand, we have business areas with significant falls in activity, but on the other, we see an increase in sales compared with the same periods in previous years. For the business areas where we verify significant losses in the commercial activity, we bet in creating new products and services that answer some of the new needs created by Pandemic Covid-19.

GCNP: What do you think should be done, namely by SMEs, for the economy to recover from this crisis and build a more resilient society?

AA: The coronavirus outbreak represents a huge shock to the economy worldwide. The adoption of fiscal measures and liquidity support measures is fundamental to try to get through the most complex phase, where there is no confidence in the markets, until we get to the much needed vaccine. Portuguese SMEs will inevitably have to reinvent themselves, seeking solutions that respond to the needs that emerge as this crisis evolves.

An investment in more sustainable products and services may be the SMEs' solution and will certainly be the solution for the construction of a more environmentally friendly society, supporting the necessary recovery of planet Earth. An investment in new information technologies aimed at the efficiency of companies is a must.

GCNP: Do you think the world will stay the same after this pandemic?

AA: I believe that the world will undergo major changes, particularly in the more developed and democratic countries... Inevitably, there will be a reinforcement in the investment in health systems, and necessarily these countries will confirm the investment in a circular economy, betting on sustainable development, allowing to stop the shortage or depletion of resources and allowing these to serve the needs of future generations and also ours.

Countries will seek to ensure less dependence on imports from external markets, notably in Asia, by investing in the capacity to meet strategic needs with domestic production. For example, as regards the European Union, the guidelines encourage Member States to consider direct investments from outside the EU in specific areas such as medical research, biotechnology and infrastructure, as these are key sectors for security and public order in the EU.