Portugal is an attractive country for digital nomads and foreign investment

Portugal is "an attractive country for digital nomads and foreign investment" said Prime Minister António Costa during his visit to Web Summit 2022 in Lisbon. 

In a press statement, António Costa noted the law on "granting visas and entering and exiting the country for work", which created "a new opportunity for digital nomads and investors" who wish to reside in Portugal. 

The procedure to be granted a visa, in a "much more agile way" is, as António Costa claims "a great opportunity" to provide these movements "continuity"; Portugal is now "a place where our ecosystem is very vibrant for entrepreneurship and innovation, for attracting and settling people".

Start-ups

Regarding start-ups, the Prime Minister noted that "today there is practically no municipality that doesn’t have these start-ups" since the start of the first in Lisbon in 2012. 

"We have more than 160 incubators throughout the country and a significant increase in investment in start-ups. In 2021 there was investment of upwards of 1.5 billion euros in start-ups which means, in fact, that a great dynamic has been created. 

António Costa also said that the existence of these companies in Portugal "is very important for us to be a more creative more innovative society, and to be able to face up to the major challenges of the green transition, the digital transition", as this also enables the creation of "more and better jobs, especially for youths", as well as "higher qualification levels".

International entrepreneurship

On international entrepreneurship António Costa noted "the policy to settle and attract [foreign] investment to Portugal", for which the streamlining of visa granting encourages digital nomads settling here, whether to create tech firms or developing their activity.

According to the Prime Minister the pandemic showed that the country "is particularly attractive for the so-called digital nomads" and added:

"Portugal performed well in tackling the Covid crisis", "has a very high level of safety and is a particularly attractive place for those who have a job that doesn’t require them settling in a fixed location, enabling them to choose. This is an added value we must retain. We must know how to welcome and cherish these people because if we want to be an increasingly innovative country, with companies that are innovative and grow on a global scale, it’s detrimental that we have this dynamic". 

António Costa also said there are seven unicorns in Portugal and that many of these companies "were small start-ups" that grew and consolidated in "different fields", such as "aerospace" or "life sciences".

The Prime Minister concluded by stating that "in a highly diversified platform of offers, we must have this dynamic and encourage it", and "that is why we need to keep treading this path.