While many Portuguese continue to look at the country through a lens marked by pessimism, permanent criticism and the conviction that all that is best is out there, international investors, multinational companies, investment funds and entrepreneurs continue to choose Portugal to invest, grow and develop projects.

The question deserves to be asked: are they all wrong or do we continue to underestimate what we have?

Just look at what has happened in recent years. Foreign direct investment has reached historic levels. Technology companies have set up development centres. International funds have invested in real estate, hotels, energy and logistics. Projects related to data centres, artificial intelligence, and digital infrastructures began to emerge in different regions of the country. International universities are looking for partnerships. Qualified professionals choose Portugal to live and work. None of this happens by chance.

Investors do not invest hundreds of millions of euros out of sympathy. They don't choose markets just because they like the weather or the cuisine. They invest where they identify potential for growth, stability and the ability to generate value in the long term. And it is precisely here that the contrast arises.

While many international observers see a safe, stable, strategically located country with skilled talent, abundant renewable energy, and a differentiating quality of life, internally, we often remain focused exclusively on the problems. Of course, they exist.

Housing is a challenge. Bureaucracy remains excessive. Productivity needs to improve. Wages remain below desirable levels in many sectors. But these limitations do not cancel out the competitive advantages that Portugal has. In fact, what is happening in the world favours more and more countries with the characteristics of Portugal.

The global economy is valuing stability, sustainability, quality of life, talent, clean energy and the capacity for innovation. Competition no longer happens only between countries. It happens between ecosystems capable of attracting people, companies and investment. And Portugal brings together many of the factors that this new economy is looking for.

Perhaps that is why we see more and more interest in sectors as different as technology, energy, value-added tourism, scientific research, health, real estate and specialised agriculture.

The most curious thing is that this positive view of the country often arises from those who observe it from the outside. Those who arrive in Portugal see opportunities. Those who live here often see only obstacles. Perhaps because we have become accustomed to looking at what we do not have instead of valuing what we have built. Perhaps because criticism generates more attention than recognition. Or perhaps because we continue to compare ourselves with the best examples in the world without recognising the distance we have already travelled.

The risk of this attitude is not only psychological. It is strategic. Because the countries that grow the most are not necessarily those that do not have problems. They are those who can recognise their advantages and use them to create more wealth, more innovation and more opportunities.

Portugal does not need to ignore its challenges. But he also cannot continue to ignore the signals that the world is sending him.

When international investors continue to bet on the country, when global companies choose Portugal to grow and when foreign talent decides to build their future here, perhaps it is worth pausing and reflecting.

If so many people and organisations believe in Portugal's potential, perhaps it is time for more Portuguese to start believing too. Because sometimes the biggest difference between an opportunity and a success is simply in the ability to recognise it before others.