A major part of Portugal’s future involves attracting overseas investors, Portuguese property executive Sérgio Saraiva told an investment locations event at Expo Real earlier this month.
A board member of Baia do Tejo, a public-private partnership managing land and creating business parks, Saraiva explained that the country had long recognised that attracting external investment, and combining it with local talent, was the way forward.
Baia do Tejo, which was created in 2009, currently manages around 800 hectares of land in Lisbon and Porto’s metropolitan areas, which have become prime locations for multi-purpose pavilions, warehouses, logistics facilities and offices.
It is also currently promoting the Lisbon South Bay scheme, an ambitious attempt to regenerate the south bank of the River Tagus with a raft of logistics and office hubs.
‘Foreign investors that come to Lisbon are also realising that there’s a shortage of supply downtown, so we’re confident we can bring them south of the river,’ says Saraiva.
Financed and promoted in conjunction with the municipal councils of Almada, Barreiro and Seixal, Lisbon South Bay will host the Barreiro Business Park, Seixal Business Park and Water City (Almada).
‘For Water City, we’re looking for an investor to bring €1 bn to develop the whole project, so we’re probably looking for an international party for that,’ concluded Saraiva.
