“The establishment of a fund of funds under the management of the Portuguese Development Bank, as well as the intention to encourage institutional investors, such as pension funds or insurance companies, to participate in funds that invest in national companies, are two measures that APCRI considers to be heading in the right direction,” the statement reads.
The association also regarded these measures as “a good response from Portugal” to the needs identified by the Draghi report prepared by the European Commission.
“For the Portuguese economy to grow and produce more qualified employment, it is necessary to increase the weight of industrial and technological companies in the country’s product, which can only be achieved with more private capital and more professional management. This is what these measures aim to promote, especially through venture capital investment funds,” said Stephan de Moraes, president of APCRI, in a statement.
The APCRI also notes that for these measures to achieve the desired results, they must, in many cases, involve “concentration operations that increase the efficiency and innovation capacity of the companies involved.”
According to the association’s president, “it is necessary to review the tax deductibility regime of the ‘goodwill’ of acquired companies to encourage concentration operations.”
“It is also necessary to review the SIFIDE model, promoting changes that ensure the funds released by this instrument are well invested in innovative businesses and not seen by investors merely as a tax benefit,” he added.
The Programme of the XXV Constitutional Government, resulting from the legislative elections on May 18, won by the AD (PSD/CDS) coalition, was delivered on Saturday to the Assembly of the Republic by the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Carlos Abreu Amorim.
At the press conference following the Government meeting, the Minister of the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro, described the document as “an ambitious program to transform the country,” structured into 10 priority areas, including State reform, regulated immigration, increased income, localized security, housing, or defense.
