Invited by the IX Executive Breakfast Session, organised by the Associação Portuguesa dos Promotores e Investidores Imobiliários (APPII) in Lisbon, Miguel Frasquilho stressed the importance of exportation as the “engine of growth” of the Portuguese economy. He maintained that “exports have gone up, but they are still far from the levels of countries comparable to ourselves. We can not believe that everything is done, we must continue to bring investment into Portugal”.
Occupying 25th spot out of 180 countries in the ‘Doing Business’ ranking from the World Bank, among the main advantages of Portugal can be highlighted “its geographical location, physical infrastructure (roads, rail, airports), “privileged relationships” with the EU or the CPLP, and competitive “skills and talents”, besides fiscal incentives such as the “golden visa”, says the President of AICEP.
However, the president recognises that there are still several questions to work on to enable the flux of foreign investment to further increase, such as the availability of credit, the protection of minority investors, energy costs and the payment of taxes.
With eyes fixed on the future, Miguel Frasquilho says that “prospects for 2017 are good” in relation to the attraction of foreign investment to the country.