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Portugal’s 2023 Carnival will be on February 21st. The origin of the tradition of Shrovetide dates back to pagan times and is always celebrated on a Tuesday, 40 days before Easter, in order to symbolize temptation. Reservations in Portugal’s hotels are already higher than pre-pandemic levels with a strong demand from the British, German and French holidaymakers. #portugalcarnival2023 #hotelreservationsportugal2023 #portugaltourism2023 #portugalnews #portugalbusinessnews

PBN/LUSA - The European Investment Bank has opened exploratory talks with Portugal, Spain and France for the planned green hydrogen maritime pipeline that will strengthen the Iberian interconnections, acknowledging the possibility of funding it if the project satisfies the eligibility criteria. #EIBPortugal #EIBIberianpipeline #greenhydrogenmaritimepipeline #greenhydrogenportugal #portugalnews #portugalbusinessnews

An investment of EUR 80 million in Portuguese BioShoes4All is spearheading the industry for a more sustainable bioeconomy. Since 9 out of 10 pairs of shoes are made in Asia, do you think this is sustainable? This is the question raised by Portugal’s BioShoes4All consortium that comprises 70 partners with leather goods, footwear, technology and research companies. The leading entity is Portuguese footwear association APICCAPS and the project is led by Portugal’s footwear technological centre CTCP. The BioShoes4All project is divided into five pillars, namely biomaterials, ecological footwear, circular economy, advanced production technologies and training, as well as promotion. The ambitious project aims at inducing a radical change in the materials, technologies and processes in the footwear sector. This is made possible by at least 69 partners from different sectors, including design, biological resources, leather, polymers, composites, chemical products, machine manufacturers, communication and information technologies, logistics, waste recovery as well as market visionaries. Portugal’s BioShoes4All research project, that started in July 2022 and will be completed in June 2024, will lead to the development and production of new biomaterials and components that are based on the principles of a circular bioeconomy. With the creation of new concepts of eco-products, new technologies that will add value to post-consumption waste and ensure the traceability of the entire value chain, as well as the use of AI, the project will transform the entire footwear industry in line with the objectives set out in Portugal's Economic Recovery Plan for 2020-2030. #BioShoes4All #bioeconomyportugal #portuguesefootwear #APICCAPS #CTCP #biomaterialsportugal #ecologicalfootwearportugal #circulareconomyportugal #portugalnews #portugalbusinessnews

Portugal is investing EUR 26 M in AI technology aimed at transforming the Justice Department with funds coming from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR). Portugal’s Gov-tech strategy for digital transformation will provide innovative services developed by universities, research centres and startups in order to have a more efficient Justice system. The total amount of PRR funds to be invested by the Justice Department will reach EUR 266.9 million, out of which 15% will be used for simplifying e-services for citizens and companies. With the motto “Together to Transform the Justice Department”, Portugal’s strategy is to integrate innovative tech projects using AI. The tech projects that are already operational include the online application for citizenship that will authenticate documents automatically, but it is reserved for representatives in the first phase. A database of trade and company names is already operational using AI to automatically create possible names for companies. Ongoing projects include the anonymization of data that will make it possible for rulings to be published, thus increasing transparency and data availability through AI. Moreover, an Access Guide that uses machine-learning and that is similar to ChatGPT will be launched in March. It will provide information to citizens about the procedure to be followed for each situation. The first phase will provide information about wedding and divorce procedures, while in the future it will provide information about all other legal procedures. #PortugalinvestmentsAI #JusticeDepartmentPortugal #digitaltransformationportugal #ChatGPTportugal #digitalnewsportugal #portugalnews #portugalbusinessnews

IberBlue Wind intends to invest EUR 2.5 B in a Floating Wind Farm in Figueira da Foz, in central Portugal and 55% of the investment will be national. The Botafogo project will be the largest floating offshore wind farm in Portugal and will contribute to the supply of clean energy in the region. The offshore wind farm will be comprised of 55 wind turbines of 18MW each and is expected to produce 990 MW that will be enough to supply 670,000 homes per year. IberBlue Wind, that is a joint venture with Irish company Simply Blue Group as well as Spanish companies Proes Consultores and FF New Energy Venture, has submitted a Letter of Interest that is a required step for obtaining a permit. The consortium is specialized in the development of floating offshore wind farms that will operate on the Iberian market and their objective is to position Spain and Portugal as leaders in the field of renewable energy. The Botafogo project will have an operational life of more than 25 years and will be located at a distance of at least 20 km from the coast in order to limit the visual impact. With the use of cutting-edge technology to produce zero-carbon electricity, it is expected to contribute to the Portuguese government’s target of 10 GW of offshore wind by 2030. #IberBlueWind #floatingwindfarmPortugal #Botafogoproject #SimplyBlueGroup #ProesConsultores #FFNewEnergyVenture #renewableenergyportugal #investmentsportugal #portugalnews #portugalbusinessnews

Spanish Mercadona is investing EUR 225 M in Portugal’s logistics sector in Almeirim, Santarém, that is a one-hour drive north of Lisbon. The company intends to create 500 new jobs by 2024. Mercadona supermarkets is building its new logistics centre in Santarém and expects it to be operational in 2024. The centre will have an area of 120,000 sq. m, with a cold store of 47,000 sq. m, a dry goods store of 50,000 sq. m as well as offices. The centre will be using solar energy to optimize energy consumption and will have 15,000 solar panels, that is an investment of EUR 6.5 million. Mercadona is therefore ensuring that 25% of energy consumption will be green. It is to be noted that Mercadona inaugurated its first logistics centre in Porto in 2019 at a cost of EUR 60 million and extended the centre at a cost of EUR 25.5 million. Mercadona has a network of 16 logistics centres and distributes to 1,600 supermarkets in Portugal and Spain. #Mercadonaportugal #Portugallogisticssector #investmentsportugal #mercadona #portugalnews #portugalbusinessnews

Portugal has decided to be pro-active in the face of the current housing crisis and has just approved a bold Package for More Housing. In order to combat speculation, Portugal will no longer grant Golden Visas. Portugal’s Council of Ministers has just approved a set of measures that aims at responding to all aspects of Portugal’s severe housing crisis. Portugal’s Package for More Housing (Programa Mais Habitação) is to be the subject of a national debate that will last one month before it is enacted on March 16th. According to Portugal’s Prime Minister, housing is the main concern of the Portuguese people since it is not only affecting the disadvantaged, but all families including the youth and the middle-class. The Package for More Housing addresses specific areas, namely increasing housing supply, simplifying licensing procedures, increasing the number of houses on the rental market, taking measures to combat speculation, providing family support and implementing a new generation of housing policies. For the local tourist accommodation (AL) sector, Portugal intends to review all tourism licenses in 2030 and will issue no more licenses unless they are in rural areas. For house owners who convert their tourism license for a residential one by 2024, they will have a tax holiday until 2030. People who choose to buy houses for low-cost housing will be exempted from property purchase tax, while those who do renovation works for low-cost housing will pay only 6% VAT and will be exempted from income tax on property income. In order to increase the number of houses on the rental market, the State will rent all available houses for a period of five years in order to sublet. There will be an exemption of capital gains tax for those who choose to sell housing to the State. New rental contracts will have limits to rent increases and rents will only increase by the inflation rate set by the ECB. New housing loans by financial institutions will only be allowed at a flat rate. Moreover, if tenants fail to pay rent for 3 months, the State will replace the tenant and pay rent subject to it being a social cause. It is to be noted that Portugal intends to convert commercial property into residential property as needed. In order to increase housing supply, the State will provide land and buildings for low-cost housing and there will be two tenders for model construction that shortens construction time and increases energy efficiency. Municipalities will have access to a credit facility of EUR 150 million in order to fund mandatory works. Under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), the Government has allocated EUR 2.7 billion to increase housing supply and 26,000 new houses are yet to be built following a tender procedure. #Portugalpackageformorehousing #GoldenVisasPortugal2023 #housingcrisisportugal #localtouristaccommodationportugal #lowcosthousingportugal #realestatenewsportugal #portugalnews #portugalbusinessnews

Made-in-Portugal EV Charging Stations will be exported to Australia. One of the main Australian car manufacturers, Custom Denning, has selected the made-in-Portugal EV Charging Stations sold by Siemens for their Element fleet. The EV Charging Stations will be produced in Corroios, Setúbal, that is located in southern Portugal. According to the Australian Government Authority on Climate Change, greenhouse gas emissions produced by vehicles in Australia have increased yearly since 1990, except in 2020 due to the lockdown. Vehicles, that contribute to 21% of emissions in Australia, are the second highest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions and Australia is encouraging the use of low carbon transport. The State of New South Wales intends to convert its fleet of 8,300 buses to zero emission vehicles. The Siemens SICHARGE UC Charging Station will be part of the tests on zero emission electric buses produced by Custom Denning. Four prototypes of the Element buses with the SICHARGE UC100 having a capacity of up to 100 kW will be produced for testing by operators. It is to be noted that the SICHARGE UC includes a range of products with a capacity of 100 to 600 kW. Custom Denning, that will manufacture the Element buses in Sidney, will have a production capacity of 550 electric buses yearly, both for the domestic and export markets. #MadeinPortugalEVChargingStations #madeinportugalproducts #CustomDenning #Siemens #SiemensSICHARGEUCChargingStation #Elementbuses #electricbusesaustralia #portugueseexports #portugalnews #portugalbusinessnews

Portugal approved Green Hydrogen projects amounting to EUR 102 million from the funds of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) and 25 projects have already been signed. These projects, that will lead to a reduction of 167,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, are mostly not located on the coast or in large urban centers, but are rather in industrial parks and in the interior. Prime Minister, António Costa, stated that Green Hydrogen production will not only be enough for the country’s energy consumption, but will also be exported. He added that Green Hydrogen production meant a structural shift for the Portuguese economy and that there was a market for exporting Green Hydrogen produced on the Iberian Peninsula to the EU, since Germany is also joining the Green Hydrogen Corridor linking Portugal, Spain and France. The Portuguese private sector is committed towards the energy transition with projects that are in line with public policies, with the use of public as well as private funds that are being mobilized in order to transform the economy in such a critical sector as energy. #greenhydrogenportugal #PRRgreenhydrogen #greenhydrogenexportsportugal #energytransitionportugal #portugalnews #portugalbusinessnews

The European Scaleup Institute was launched with the collaboration of NOVA SBE Haddad Entrepreneurship Institute in Portugal, Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship in the Netherlands, ESSEC Business School in France, Vlerick Business School in Belgium, WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management in Germany and Nordic Innovation as founding partners. The European Scaleup Institute aims at creating a leading global scaleup ecosystem through joint research and educational initiatives across borders, by sharing best practices and knowledge for scaling up. The Institute will also provide research insights for scaling up successfully. The Nova School of Business and Economics, that is based in Cascais, Portugal, will be hosting the inaugural Research and Education Conference on scaling up and on high-growth firms. A collaborative report with state-of-the-art insights into the European scaleup landscape will also be launched at the event. #EuropeanScaleupInstitute #NOVA #NOVASBEHaddadEntrepreneurshipInstitute #ErasmusCentreforEntrepreneurship #ESSECBusinessSchool #VlerickBusinessSchool #WHUOttoBeisheimSchoolofManagement #NordicInnovation #scaleupportugal #NovaSchoolofBusinessandEconomics #portugalnews #portugalbusinessnews

Portugal has invested EUR 100 million in a state-of-the-art air traffic control system for their Lisbon airport. Portugal’s public business entity NAV has started using their new air traffic control system on Tuesday. The investments include the new air traffic control system, TopSky, at EUR 83 million as well as an air traffic control centre. The TopSky system, that is a computerized air traffic control and management solution developed by Thales Air Systems, uses cutting-edge technology and will detect potential conflicts between aircraft at a distance of 20 minutes. Portugal’s new air traffic control system will be adapted to the extension of the airport capacity in Lisbon, that includes the new airport that is to be built. #airtrafficcontrolsystemportugal #NAV #TopSky #ThalesAirSystems #portugalinvestments #portugalnews #portugalbusinessnews #Thales

Income from local tourist accommodation in Portugal has more than doubled for 2022. Preliminary data from Statistics Portugal (INE) shows that the income from local tourist accommodation has increased by 114.7%, while the number of guests has reached 26.5 million guests, representing an increase of 83.3%. For 2022, data including all types of local tourist accommodations including camping, holiday camps and youth hostels, shows that there were 28.9 million guests, that is an 80.7% growth and 77 million overnight stays, that is an 80.8% growth. For the month of December 2022, income from local tourist accommodation in Portugal has more than doubled compared to 2021 and is even higher compared to the same period in 2019 according to Statistics Portugal (INE). In December 2022, the local tourist accommodation sector registered a 44.2% increase with 1.6 million guests, registering a total income of EUR 252.2 million. Compared to 2019, this represents an increase of 22.9% of total income. The net occupancy rate of bed places in local tourist accommodations was 31.1%, that is slightly lower compared to figures for December 2019 with 31%. #incomelocaltouristaccommodationPortugal #alojamentolocalportugal #tourismstatistics2022portugal #INE #tourismportugal2022 #portugalnews #portugalbusinessnews