June 2016 \ Interviews \ India and Portugal
“There is a growing interest in Portugal about India”

Ever since the Carnation Revolution that restored democracy in Portugal, its ties with India have been on an upswing. Diplomatic relations between the two nations were revived in 1975, paving the way for several high level visits. H.E. Mario Soares visited India both as Prime Minister (1984 for the funeral of Mrs Indira Gandhi) and as President of Portugal (1992 as Chief Guest at the Republic Day). President Anibal Cavaco Silva and Prime Minister Jose Socrates visited India, both in 2007. From the Indian side, President R Venkatraman (1990) and President K R Narayanan (1998) made state visits to Portugal. As Prime Minister, Mr A B Vajpayee attended the India-Portugal Summit in 2000. Several other Parliamentary level and ministerial visits have followed. Now there is a definite buoyancy and momentum in relations that cannot be missed. Ambassador Joao da Camara spoke to Editor and Publisher Sayantan Chakravarty on a range of issues ...

 

 

There seems to be increasing interest from the Portuguese side in Make in India campaign. Would that be correct to say so?

Yes, very much so. I arrived in India only four months back, but before I came here, I had several meetings with a large number of Portuguese companies and industries. There were also individual businesses that I met with. There were many companies that I found who had a great deal of curiosity and interest in the Indian market. There were some that wanted to establish a presence here. There were several questions that were asked about the market, about ease of doing business. India, you must remember, is still a relatively unknown destination for Portuguese companies, and our presence here is not very big. My meetings were arranged by our Institute of External Trade and Investment. I can conclude that the interest is growing, and opportunities are being identified. All it takes is one or two investments to happen, and the rest will follow, I’m sure.

How many Portuguese companies are present in India, and how many Indian companies are present in Portugal?

Around 25 Portuguese companies have a presence in India, at the moment. They cater to different sectors such as services, machineries and equipment, software, public private partnerships, and others. In Portugal, we do not differentiate between a local company and one set up by an Indian firm. In our records, they are all Portuguese firms. So it is very difficult to give you a figure, straightaway. But yes, there at least 5 large Indian companies that have invested in Portugal. For example, TCS is registered as a Portuguese firm, they have the same rights as a Portuguese firm. It may not be a large operation in terms of Tata figures, but it is a significant one, and considered a very positive corporate case study in Europe by Tata. Besides, there are thousands of small businesses owned by Indians living in Portugal. In India, Petrotech of Portugal has a factory presence in Gujarat for the past 15 years. It has the largest Portuguese presence in India.




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