During the first nine months of last year, direct investment from Brazil in Portugal grew again to 5.3 billion euros, an increase of 10% compared to the same period in 2022, according to the latest official data from the Bank of Portugal made available. ACIP – Portuguese Investment and Foreign Trade Agency.
According to data from the Brazilian Foreign Trade Agency (Apex-Brasil), since 2018, 21.6% of the Brazilian business sector has initiated internationalization processes.
Figures from Fundação Dom Cabral also show that in 2022, 45.1% of international Brazilian companies increased their investments abroad.
Founded 40 years ago, Fundação Dom Cabral is a business school offering national and international educational solutions, supported by strategic alliances and cooperation agreements with institutions in Europe, the United States, China, India, Russia and Latin America.
For Francisco Saião Costa, the increasing desire to internationalize among Brazilian investors in recent years is due to the “domestic economic and political situation” in Brazil and the desire of investors to protect their assets and diversify their investment portfolios, through a presence in other markets. He pointed out avoiding exposure to different economic cycles.
In this context, Brazilian investors are starting to look to other markets, and Portugal stands out as “a natural choice”, but also as a “priority”, as the AICEP delegate in Brazil sees it.
Initially for reasons of historical, cultural, social and linguistic proximity.
Then, taking a closer look, also “because of the competitive advantages that Portugal offers” and “which are highly valued by Brazilian companies and investors – namely security and legal stability, highly qualified human resources, excellent infrastructure and attractive operational costs, coupled with a business framework” . “Favorable incentives” for foreign investment, says an AICEP delegate in a written response to questions posed by Lusa.
Francisco Costa also acknowledges that there is a lot of Brazilian investment in real estate in Portugal, but highlights that there are also companies created with Brazilian capital that generate jobs.
“In a clear positive sense, we are beginning to identify signs of a potential shift in the investment matrix, in a movement that has been consolidating since 2020. There is an increasing number of Brazilian companies, especially in technology services, that are opening “technology centers”, innovation or development centers in Portugal, with An appropriate level of associated investment and a tendency to expand.”
On the other hand, industrial investments made by major Brazilian companies “that already have a significant presence” in Portugal also continue to be highlighted, he added.
Francisco Costa concluded that there is a predominance of small and medium-sized Brazilian companies investing in Portugal, with a particular focus on startups, however, large Brazilian business groups are also starting their expansion with a “medium-sized presence” in Portugal. Portuguese market.
For him, the sectors that the Brazilian investor prefers to develop in Portugal are the technological, financial, machinery and equipment sectors because “these are the sectors in which the Brazilian offer is stronger, organized, developed and able to stand out compared to its competitors while proving other highly competitive markets.”
“The clear interest of these investors in using Portugal as a ‘test market’ to validate their internationalization of the European continent is verifiable,” he concluded.