The Oeiras Valley Investment Agency (OVIA) is in Macau to attract Chinese tech companies to a business park, a Sino-Portuguese partnership, with construction expected to begin later this year.
António Martins da Cruz, president of OVIA, stated that the municipality, located just a half-hour drive from Portugal’s capital Lisbon, “is keen to attract more investment, particularly in the technology and construction sectors.”
The former Minister of Foreign Affairs highlighted that Oeiras already has “the largest Chinese investment for 2025” in Portugal, a business and residential park featuring 18 buildings, with infrastructure construction expected to start “probably later this year.”
This project is a partnership between the Macau subsidiary of the world’s largest construction company, the state-owned China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), and the Portuguese group Teixeira Duarte.
“But there is room for further investment, capitalising on the capabilities that Chinese companies in the Greater Bay Area possess,” Martins da Cruz emphasised.
On Saturday, the Oeiras delegation will hold meetings with several companies in the neighbouring Hengqin In-depth Cooperation Zone, which “are interested in coming to Portugal, either to invest or to seek partnerships,” said the OVIA president.
“Macau is clearly the gateway for the Portuguese; it’s a window of opportunity that we intend to seize,” he added.
China established the Macau Special Administrative Region as a platform to strengthen economic and trade cooperation with Portuguese-speaking countries in 2003. In the same year, it created Forum Macau, bringing China and the Portuguese-speaking countries together.
Martins da Cruz noted that once the business park in Oeiras is completed, expected within three years, it will primarily host Chinese companies. However, he emphasized that the project “is, of course, open to all companies.”
“Our message is clear: Want to invest in the European Union? Come to Portugal, and come to Oeiras,” he declared.
Martins da Cruz spoke to journalists on the sidelines of a workshop about OVIA held at the City University of Macau. The Oeiras delegation also visited the Macau International Fair, which concluded on Saturday.
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