World Trade Center Mumbai signed MoU with the Portugal-India Business Hub (PIBHub) to facilitate trade, investment, tourism, cultural and education exchange between both the countries. The MoU was signed on the sidelines of an interactive meeting with Portugal delegation in WTC Mumbai led by PIBHub.
Speaking on this occasion, Mr. Altino Alvares, President, PIBHub mentioned, “India-Portugal relations is more than five centuries old and around 3-6% of the Portuguese people are of Indian origin. Many Indian companies such as Tech Mahindra, TCS and Aurobindo Pharma have presence in Portugal. Many Portugal MSMEs are keen to partner with Indian companies to grow their business. I am confident that through this MoU we can deepen our trade and investment relations. I suggest Indian companies to explore business in Portugal as it can be the gateway to Europe, Africa and South America.
Earlier in his welcome remarks, Dr. Vijay Kalantri, Chairman, WTC Mumbai remarked, “India and Portugal cherish friendly political relations and we are like one family. Portugal is a major exporter of cork, port wine, chemicals, plastics, minerals, aluminium products and so on. Portuguese also has strong tourism and maritime sectors. The current bilateral trade is hardly USD 1.4 billion and we have tremendous opportunity to double this trade volume in the coming years. Golden Visa is an effective tool to promote our business relations as Indians are the fifth largest holder of Portuguese Golden Visa.”
Speaking on this occasion, Capt. Somesh Batra, Honorary Consul General of Portugal in Mumbai and also the Vice Chairman of WTC Mumbai remarked, “Portugal is one of the best places to do business in Europe as the economy is growing at 2.4%, double the rate of the European economy. The country has competitive advantage in infrastructure, renewable energy, textile, tourism, defence, aerospace, electronics, startups, agriculture and other sectors.”
Capt. Batra further informed that there is tremendous scope to enhance trade and people to people ties with Portugal. India has signed several agreements with Portugal in areas such as defence, science and technology, cultural exchange, youth development and so on.
Capt. Batra informed that the upcoming Portugal visit of Indian President will be great opportunity to strengthen economic relations between both the countries. Indian President Ms. Droupadi Murmu is likely to visit Portugal later this year to commemorate 50 years of renewed diplomatic relations. Ms. Droupadi Murmu will be the first Indian President to visit Portugal in 27 years.
Capt. Batra invited Portugal businesses to participate in the upcoming Global Economic Summit, the flagship event of WTC Mumbai scheduled from August 20-22, 2025 at WTC Mumbai.
In her remarks, Ms. Nicole Fernandes, Chief Representative of Portugal’s largest state-owned bank CGD Group in India informed that her bank has a history dating back to 1876 and it has operations in 19 countries across four continents. Ms. Fernandes assured to meet the financial needs of Indian companies looking to expand their business presence in Portugal or collaborate with Portugal companies.
Ms. Rupa Naik, Executive Director, WTC Mumbai proposed vote of thanks for the event. Ms. Naik remarked, “This event served as a great opportunity for companies from Portuguese and India to network and explore new business opportunities. Olive oil is a key focus of this event as Portugal is the sixth largest producer of this healthy product and it produces one of the highest quality olive oil in the world. India imports USD 360,000 worth olive oil annually from Portuguese.”
Ms. Naik further informed that apart from olive oil there is tremendous opportunity for collaboration in other agriculture commodities as Portuguese is also a significant producer of cereals, wines, potatoes, tomatoes and other agro products in Europe.
During the event, business delegation from Portuguese representing Olive Oil, engineering goods and other products engaged in fruitful networking with Indian business delegates to explore areas of collaborations in distribution, retail, manufacturing and other forms of joint venture.