Brasília, March 8, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Portugal's Minister of Economy, Carlos Tavares, who is a member of Prime Minister Durão Barroso's delegation at the 7th Brazil-Portugal Summit, said that the time has come to move from the phase of intentions to the phase of carrying out bilateral projects. He revealed that there is a pipeline of 15 large investment projects by Brazilian groups in Portugal, in areas ranging from tourism to steelmaking and including information technologies and chemicals, among others.

"We want to reverse the flow of investments and bring Brazilian interests to Portugal. Indeed, this already began to happen in 2003, since Brazilian entrepreneurs invested more in Portugal than Portuguese entrepreneurs in Brazil," he informed. Tavares said that he will reaffirm to Brazilians that his country offers attractive conditions for investment or to serve as a base for entrepreneurial activities in the European Union.

"We have everything that other European countries are able to offer and more, the language and a special relationship between the two countries and nations," he pointed out.

Together with Durão Barroso, Minister Tavares has a meeting scheduled for tomorrow (9) in São Paulo with a group of prospective Brazilian investors. And he said that at today's meeting with Luiz Fernando Furlan, Brazilian Minister of Development, Industry, and Foreign Trade, they will discuss themes related to investments, the trade balance, and administrative and bureaucratic difficulties faced by Portuguese enterprises in their exports to Brazil.

"We want Brazil to export more to Portugal and to the European Union, via Portugal, but we also want to export more to Brazil," he affirmed. And he guaranteed that Brazil continues to be a priority for Portugal and revealed that the Entrepreneurial Nucleus of Foreign Promotion, in its strategy for Portuguese exports, considers Brazil "one of the priority markets for 2004 and 2005."

INTERNATIONALIZATION

Tavares considered the creation of a Brazil-Portugal Entrepreneurial Council, which should be announced at the conclusion of the meeting in the Itamaraty Palace, a measure that can permit permanent contact between entrepreneurs from the two countries all year long, "making economic relations easier and more fluid." In the Minister's opinion, the two countries "do not need more agreements: It is necessary to move from words to deeds."

In a reference to Portuguese investments in Brazil, Tavares argues that internationalization of companies "must be carried out with feet firmly planted on the ground and, consequently, it is necessary for them to be companies that are competitive in their own market (Portugal)." He added, with respect to joint ventures, that the investments "must be part of a strategy of complementarity between companies in relation to their activities in Portugal." And he called for a "repositioning of entrepreneurs with regard to the Brazilian market," as he recalled that Brazil should be more and more "a market to sell what is produced in Portugal."

From the Lusa Agency. (DAS)