“The attractiveness of Portugal is significantly better than a few years ago especially in terms of cost and everything done to simplify employment legislation,” Debourdeau continued before adding that a recent chamber study of Portugal and its traditional competitors in eastern Europe and North Africa found Portugal winning out “in almost 100 percent of all situations.”
There was also mention of the French involvement and investment in Portugal.
“Whoever was already here is continuing to invest and believing a lot more in the country and those who were not here are arriving in strength such as Vinci [that won the ANA airport privatisation process] and Altice [expected to take over PT Portugal],” the French business chief stated.
Debourdeau also pointed to the significance of shared back office service facilities now getting opened by “major global groups” with such service industries exporting 100 percent of their production.
The meeting, also attended by the French Ambassador to Lisbon, Jean-François Blarel, served to convey to President Cavaco Silva the conclusions of the France-Portugal economic meeting focusing on French investment in Portugal and that took place in late 2014.