In a joint press conference in Munich, Germany, the Mayor of Matosinhos, the Mayor of Vila Nova de Gaia and the Alderman of Economy of Porto City Hall stressed the need to place the three municipalities at the "level" of other European regions and cities, acting as a pole of attractiveness
The municipalities of Porto, Gaia and Matosinhos presented on 4 October the "Greater Porto" initiative that aims to attract investment in the industrial, business, real estate and innovation sectors, promoting economic growth and skilled employment in the region.
The three municipalities presented the initiative at Expo Real in Munich, Germany, which aims to attract investment to the region and culminates in a "political commitment" from the three municipalities.
At a joint press conference, the Mayor of Matosinhos, the Mayor of Vila Nova de Gaia and the Alderman of Economy of the Municipality of Porto highlighted the need to place the three municipalities at the "level" of other European regions and cities, acting as a pole of attraction.
The Mayor of Matosinhos, Luísa Salgueiro, told journalists that the municipality has a "privileged location" in terms of accessibility to attract new investments, given its proximity to the airport, port of Leixões, railway and highway.
Luísa Salgueiro said that Matosinhos is looking, in particular, for investments in "structuring sectors" in the area of investment and technological development, innovation, the sea and that, simultaneously, promote young and qualified employment.
"All this, depending on the jobs that are created, also has a different evaluation from the fiscal point of view for the municipality of Matosinhos," assured the socialist mayor, who has already met, during the fair, with a Luxembourg fund interested in plots of land next to the Circunvalação road.
The Mayor of Vila Nova de Gaia, Eduardo Vítor Rodrigues, also emphasised the importance of this initiative for the three municipalities, which, in addition to their territory, share the commuting movement "of people and economic activity".
Within the scope of this initiative, Eduardo Vítor Rodrigues stated that Gaia may welcome investments of a larger scale, but also "look to the future from what is very positive", such as the two construction companies of metalworking and mechatronics linked to the automotive industry.
Stressing that one of the benefits of "Greater Porto" is the "reduction of uncertainty" for foreign investors, particularly at the fiscal, bureaucratic and legal level, the Mayor of Gaia said that the municipalities "will have to understand each other" to promote a "homogenous offer" at the fiscal level.
"The municipalities have today a very powerful instrument from a fiscal point of view which is the definition of the ARU [Urban Rehabilitation Areas], this makes a lot of sense to be thought of not as Gaia, Porto or Matosinhos, but in the compound of interdependence that we have to do. This is the path we have to take", assured Eduardo Vítor Rodrigues, adding that the presence in the fair "does not solve the problems", but is "a step" in the strategy assumed by the three municipalities.
The Alderman of Economy of Porto City Hall, Ricardo Valente, pointed out that the initiative "transcends the limits" of each of the municipalities and will "scale the added value of each one".
"We are building a project that scales territories and projects territories beyond their borders," said the councillor, highlighting that, the three cities represent 52% of foreign direct investment in the country.
"More than half of foreign investment is made here," he said, also stressing that, in this initiative, Porto is "the gateway" to the territory, but that both Gaia and Matosinhos have "potential" that the city does not have.
"We are creating another intangible bridge that allows us to sell ourselves together," he added, saying that in 2021, Porto had "more than a billion euros of investment from companies in the city".
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