The Regional Secretary for the Economy, Rui Barreto, spoke at the FIN Brasil 2024, stating “Madeira has all the conditions to attract foreign investment, especially Brazil.”
Referring to the cultural and linguistic proximity, which, he said, “has great potential and can and should be exploited. Furthermore, Madeira has amazing benefits in terms of infrastructure, security, quality of life, and low taxation.”
Rui Barreto opened his speech by mentioning the importance of FIN Brasil and the Region’s participation in this year’s edition, highlighting the commitment of Jatyr Ranzolin – CEO of FIN Brazil and President of the Brazil Portugal Chamber of Santa Catarina, “who made it possible for Madeira to attend in what is considered the most important multisectoral fair in Latin America. This year the event attracted representatives from more than 40 countries and thousands of people.”
Thanking Jatyr Ranzolin for the invitation so that Madeira could be present at this event, Rui Barreto said that “this was an extraordinary opportunity to bring two sister countries together and a way to make known the Autonomous Region of Madeira and its business and economic potential, as well as strengthening existing ties.”
Madeira and Brazil “have all the conditions to attract international trade, to perceive, geographically, the opportunities that exist to do business together.” Added Rui Barreto, who then said, “taking advantage of everything we have in common, starting with the Portuguese language, culture, and history.”
“Madeira has more than 250,50 inhabitants and has a sustainable economic, social, and territorial development, a result of political stability which has allowed, through economic growth, to raise the quality of life of the population.”
In addition, according to Rui Barreto, Madeira, and Porto Santo have, today, “a very qualified and entrepreneurial population for the so-called ‘new economy’. We have an economy very much based on tourism, but also on real estate, and on construction. We also have an extraordinary platform that Brazil and Brazilians should take advantage of: the Region has, by authorisation of the European Union, an International Business Centre of Madeira (IBC), where companies that settle there can market to any part of the world, under conditions of low taxation, paying only 5% of taxes on profits.”
With this in mind, added the Regional Secretary for the Economy, “Madeira is an extraordinary opportunity when, today, in an economy that is increasingly digital, we have the Ellalink cable that connects Fortaleza to Europe, with land connections also to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil. The cable, which reaches Sines, also connects Cape Verde, the Canary Islands, Madeira as well as Lisbon, Madrid, and several other countries points, making this an important network in this digital age.”
In addition, “by virtue of the enlargement of the intercontinental shelf, 80% of the European sea will be Portuguese, if we realize this and connect to Brazil, we have business opportunities, not only in the international areas and the IBC, but also in the areas of exploration and scientific knowledge of our seas, in the development of economic activities that can go through aquaculture, and underwater prospecting, among others!”
It all sounds good, but the Regional Government is in a deadlock with the European Union about the International Business Centre (IBC) and monies that were given, under what the EU believe to be false pretences. Moreover, this week it was announced that insolvencies grew in Madeira by 15% compared to 2022 figures – (286, 54 more than in July 2022). Last and not least, it was released earlier this year that more than a quarter of the population is living below the poverty line – a really significant rise in the population’s standard of living!
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
