Secretary of State for Internationalisation returns from first official visit to Texas
Texan investors are “very interested in Portugal” – not only for everything the country has to offer, but as a business platform for Europe and Portuguese-speaking countries.
This is the message brought back from the first official trip to the U.S. State by Secretary of State for Internationalisation Bernardo Cruz.
He has told Lusa that one of the many attractions of Portugal to U.S. investors is that the country is perceived as much better protected against the kind of banking collapse that has rattled the continent recently (namely Silicon Valley Bank), due to being “part of the eurozone” and having a banking system that is “doubly regulated”.
“There is the perception that Portugal is a modern country, turned towards the future, with good companies and good universities, with good opportunities that need to be identified and explored”, said Cruz.
Equally, there are also “good opportunities for Portuguese companies” in Texas, he said – adding that “if it were an independent country”, Texas would be “the ninth biggest economy in the world”.
Cruz’s visit involved visiting creative industries event South by Southwest, where AICEP, Portugal’s agency for investment and foreign trade, had a space for the first time. Contacts established, he said, “were very interesting and with potential, particularly in the areas of information technologies, film and television.
“We had interesting conversations with television producers who are looking at Portugal as a potential filming destination (…) The fact that we had a Portuguese film in the Oscars has also helped draw attention to our country,” he added, referring to “Ice Merchants” by João Gonzalez, which was nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film.
PORTUGAL ALREADY HAS ECONOMIC RELATIONSHIP WITH TEXAS
As Cruz explained, Portugal already has an economic relationship with Texas.
“EDP Renewables is a good example of a Portuguese company that has a very important role” and “if we have an interest in Texas natural gas, Texas has a great interest in our renewable energies,” he said.
The visit took in a tech development centre at Rice University in Houston, a medical centre – even NASA (North American Space Agency), where Portugal’s ambitions to develop the aerospace sector was discussed.
Said Cruz, there was the perception that Portugal is an ally of NATO and that the U.S. can comfortably work in sensitive areas linked to defence and aerospace.
Source: LUSA
