Business Opportunities in Portugal

Mainland Portugal, along with the semi-autonomous island regions of the Azores and Madeira, offers American exporters a market of approximately 10.6 million people in a country roughly the size of the State of Indiana. As a member of the European Union (EU), it is fully integrated with the EU, uses the euro currency, and follows directives from the European Commission in Brussels. As with all EU countries, Portugal?s borders and ports are completely open to the free flow of trade with other EU member countries. It has a politically stable environment with a democratically elected parliamentary government and is welcoming of foreign business and investment. Portugal?s GDP per capita is $23,000 (2010), and its language is the 7th most widely spoken in the world. The country retains close political and economic relations with its former colonies, which are spread throughout Africa, Asia, and South America. Against a backdrop of slow recovery from the global recession, Portugal?s economy grew 1.4% in 2010 after contracting 2.5% in 2009. The Bank of Portugal forecasts a contraction of 1.3 percent in 2011. Portugal?s budget deficit, which had been in excess of the EU?s limit of 3% of GDP for much of the early part of this decade, was brought down to 2.6% in 2007, but a weak economy and concurrent steep decline in revenues caused it to balloon to 12.1% in 2008. The government has been implementing austerity measures to reduce the budget deficit with the aim of lowering it to 4.6% of GDP this year. As the government continues to focus on deficit control, public infrastructure projects will be impacted. At the same time, a push to stimulate economic growth and job creation should help maintain momentum on some of the country?s proposed large-scale projects over the coming years ? most notably a high-speed rail line to Spain and a new international airport in Lisbon, both of which are anticipated to create diverse opportunities for technology imports and international service contracts over the medium term. The government remains committed to attracting FDI, expanding trade with Spain, the U. S., and Africa, and focusing on niche sectors of the economy such as tourism, renewable energy, high quality industrial components, and technology services. U. S. Census data indicates that Portuguese consumers bought approximately $1 billion dollars worth of U. S. goods and services in 2010. During that same period, U. S. imports of Portuguese goods and services totaled over $2.1 billion. The U. S. states exporting the most to Portugal were Texas, New Hampshire, California, Ohio, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Indiana, and New York. Top U. S. exports included computer and electronic products, industrial machinery, agricultural products, chemicals, and electrical equipment.