The Hardest Step in Going Global: From Exporting to Investing Abroad
For companies in Portugal, and in much of Europe, growth runs out of room early. Domestic markets are small, so a company that wants to keep growing soon has to sell across borders. But selling abroad is not the same as operating abroad. The skills that carry a company through the first stage rarely carry it through the next.
Addressing that gap is the focus of the Católica International Business Platform at the Catholic University of Portugal. At the GFCC’s October Monthly Call, Professor Miguel Athayde Marques, Vice-Rector of the university, described the problem: “Our companies exhaust the domestic market quickly, and to grow, they have to go beyond their borders. But going beyond borders requires a certain level of skills and ambition.”
Four stages, one decisive transition
Marques frames internationalization as four stages: exporter, international company, multinational and global company. The decisive move comes when a company stops only shipping products abroad and starts investing there, committing capital through foreign direct investment (FDI). Many Portuguese companies, he noted, find that shift from exporter to investor difficult.
The platform works at that point. Through shared learning, exchange of experience and joint knowledge creation, it helps companies export with more added value and then take their first steps into FDI. For participants already investing abroad, the challenge changes again: learning to operate as multinationals in a fast-changing global context.
Three pillars, built on peer exchange
Now in its fifth year, the platform rests on three pillars designed to encourage critical, cross-disciplinary thinking. The first is an ecosystem where executives learn from one another and share experience. The second is a community where companies co-create their internationalization strategies. The third is a foresight system that helps leaders read through ongoing transitions, such as geopolitical and geoeconomic shifts and technological change, understand how these factors affect their business and plan future strategies.
The model depends on peer-to-peer exchange. By co-creating knowledge and solutions, participants build a shared repertoire for growth, value creation and innovation. Margarida Ramalho, the platform’s Executive Director, who also joined the October Monthly Call, illustrated this through the Learn and Share sessions.
In one session, the CEO of a Portuguese technology company walked participants through its negotiation with a large multinational automaker, including the governance model, the agreements and the red lines. That level of candor is what makes peer learning work.
Collaboration as a competitive capability
The program’s emphasis on peer learning reflects the mission of the GFCC itself: a network of leaders and organizations across sectors working together to advance innovation and value creation.
In September, the GFCC joined the CEO Future Ready Academy as a partner. Created by the Católica International Business Platform and the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIP), the academy prepares senior executives to take their companies from exporting and early-stage of investment abroad to full internationalization.
At the opening of the program in November, GFCC Executive Director Roberto Alvarez will deliver the masterclass “Foresight 2026: GFCC Call to Action,” addressing AI, geopolitics, geoeconomics and global value chains.
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