The Prime Minister, António Costa, defended today, in the inauguration of a factory in Fafe, that the increase in exports and investment by businessmen, in 2022, is the “sign of confidence” that the country “needs to feel.
“It is this trajectory of confidence that the country has to follow, company by company, sector by sector,” said the head of government, pointing out that last year, for the first time, “50% of the total national wealth, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), resulted from exports.”
For António Costa, this is the path that Portugal must follow, because investments such as the one that was inaugurated today “are decisive.
The prime-minister was referring to the new installations of the company “Lingote Aluminium”, in the industrial zone of Fafe, integrated in a Belgian multinational group “Corialis”, an investment of 50 million euros, from 2021.
According to the company, with about 42 thousand square meters, this is the second largest unit of the sector operating in the Iberian Peninsula.
The prime minister recalled that “companies have been, year after year, reinforcing their investment capacity”, indicating that last year they invested 32 billion euros”, a new national record.
“This very strong business investment capacity is the biggest incentive and sign of the confidence trajectory in the economy,” he reinforced, while highlighting metalworking as the first exporting sector in Portugal.
“Our exports of goods are greater than our exports of services, so the bulk of our exports is not even tourism, the greatest weight is the result of the production of industrial activity,” he pointed out.
Throughout the day, the head of government visited three exporting companies based in the Braga district, in the construction, textile, and metal-mechanics sectors.
In Fafe, the Government leader was accompanied by the Minister of Economy, António Costa Silva, during another initiative within the two days of the ‘Government + Proximity’ program, taking place today and on Thursday, in that district.
“This district is one of the main engines of the national economy. Eleven percent of the country’s exports are from the district of Braga, in the multiplicity of its sectors,” said António Costa, also praising the City of Fafe and its president, Antero Barbosa, present at the ceremony, for having the ability to “attract, fix and multiply the industrial activity” in that county.
“Success for Fafe is success for the whole country,” he concluded.
The company was founded in 1980 and is engaged in aluminum extrusion. It currently has about 400 employees and a projected turnover for 2023 of 104 million euros.
More than 50% of its production is destined for the external market.