1. Portugal >
2. Buying a Business >
3. Finance

Financing a Business in Portugal

One needs money to make money. A strong business plan is necessary and you will need a lot of patience and boldness. Finance is often available for start-up operations, however a successful research may take a long while. Obviously your contacts (or your accountants ones) and your bank in UK are the first options, but you may want to consider resources available in the target country.

Portugal uses to encourage foreign investment in the country and there are a number of incentives probably available to you, above all if your company is involved in one of the following sectors:

• infrastructure
• energy
• commerce
• agriculture
• fishing
• tourism

Primarily EU funded, these incentives are governed by specific legislation for each incentive programme. The value of the incentive to be granted will be based on the technical evaluation of the project and on the Government's strategic plan. To start gathering information about grants and funding follow the links:

www.portugalglobal.pt: This is the AICEP - Business Development Agency website. It is the entity responsible for investment promotion and large scale investor support in Portugal. AICEP is the single point of contact for strategic investment projects in Portugal. The Agency provides a one-to-one service throughout all the investment process. It supports projects involving tradable goods and services, generating high value added outcomes and that leverage on endogenous resources and capabilities.

The Agency will direct projects that do not fall under its area of intervention to other competent entities such as

www.iapmei.pt: IAPMEI financially backs national or foreign investments, based on sustained corporate strategies. Backing may take the form of grants, interest-free or special-interest rate loans. This is done by managing various incentive schemes on a national, regional and sectorial scale.

Other key links:

http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/funds/cf/index_en.htm
and http://ec.europa.eu/youreurope/business/access-to-finance/ to browse European aids and grants.

Click here to Ask an Expert about Finance in Portugal