Prime Minister António Costa said on Monday that trade relations between Portugal and Brazil “have room to grow”, also defending that national investment in that country, currently ranked 18th, “must go up”.
“There has been some growth commercially, but well below the huge growth potential we have on both sides,” said António Costa at the Portugal-Brazil Business Forum, which took place in Matosinhos, marking the start of the third day of the official visit to Portugal by the President of Brazil, Lula da Silva.
Arguing that there are “good reasons” and “room to grow”, the prime minister stressed that national investment in Brazil, currently ranked 18th, “must increase”.
“So there are good reasons to believe there is room for growth, so it’s worth investing and working to improve our trade relations,” he added.
At the forum, a memorandum was signed between the Portuguese Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade (AICEP) and the Brazilian Agency for the Promotion of Trade and Investment (APEX) with the aim of strengthening economic and business relations between the two entities.
Increasing and diversifying bilateral trade are some of the objectives of this memorandum, as well as supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and ‘start-ups’ with high growth potential and a technology base.
A protocol was also signed between IAPMEI – Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation and the Federation of Portuguese Chambers of Commerce in Brazil.
Source: DN
