Portugal attractive to Chinese infrastructure investment
From the perspective of the Chinese report, Portugal is the Portuguese-speaking country with the best score in the sub-index of development associated with the environment.
Portugal is an attractive country for investment in infrastructure development, and China is paying attention to projects and possible contracts in the areas of transport and the environment, according to a report released in Macau on Wednesday.
In Portugal, “transport and the environment (for example, sanitation) are gaining traction, with contracts worth over US$600 million [€628 million] signed in 2021,” the report on the 2022 ‘ranking’ of the “Belt and Road” Infrastructure Development Index, the initiative launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping, which involves 71 countries in Beijing’s international strategic plan to develop maritime, road and rail links, but also investment in energy resources.
From the perspective of the Chinese report, Portugal is the Portuguese-speaking country with the best score in the sub-index of development associated with the environment, which aggregates political, economic, sovereignty, and market impact factors, as well as business and industrial scenarios.
The document – in which Portugal also leads the Portuguese-speaking countries in the sub-index related to operating and funding costs – highlights the real growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the country and concludes that “economic conditions are solid for sectors associated with the area of infrastructure,” in a reference that also extends to Cabo Verde and Mozambique.
The same document noted that, both in Brazil and Portugal, power production facilities are in a better state but noted the trend of investment in renewable energy in this period of the energy transition.
The global index assesses factors such as the environment, demand, receptiveness and costs for infrastructure development in the countries included in the “Belt and Road” initiative.
The higher the score on the index, the better the outlook for a country’s infrastructure industry, and the more attractive it is for companies to engage in investment, construction and operations in this area in those territories.
The document was presented at the International Forum on Investment and Construction of Infrastructure.
At the opening of the event, the deputy to China’s minister of commerce, Li Fei, said that the country had invested US$178.8 billion (€187.01 billion) abroad this year.
