"Programa Reforçar" aims to mitigate the impact on Portuguese companies of the growing tensions in international trade relations.
The Council of Ministers discussed and adopted “Programa Reforçar” at its meeting on April 10th, which aims to mitigate the impact on Portuguese companies of the growing tensions in international trade relations.
To this end, measures were approved to support competitiveness, exports and internationalisation, with a total value of over 10 billion euros, following consultation with business associations and confederations in the sectors most affected by the tariffs.
Firstly, the Portuguese Development Bank (BPF) INVEST EU lines for Working Capital and Investment will be reinforced by more than 5 billion euros to anchor competitiveness. There are also new financing lines totalling 3.5 billion euros for exporting companies with investment purposes, which include 400 million euros in subsidies.
Regarding the support for exports and internationalisation, there will be an increase in credit insurance ceilings of around 1.2 billion euros, with the launch of new support for exports and internationalisation to cover new markets.
A new Portugal 2030 Incentive Programme was also announced to support exports and internationalisation, with the amount of 200 million euros. To implement this programme, a Working Group has been set up, coordinated by the Ministries of the Economy, Finance and Foreign Affairs, which will be coordinated by the BPF.
Additionally, it is planned for this year the launch of new notices to support Innovation and Decarbonisation, Qualification and Training, Internationalisation and Productive Investment, worth 2.6 billion euros, which will be complementary to “Programa Reforçar”.
This support is particularly directed at projects which aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, provide energy efficiency and adopt advanced technologies (artificial intelligence, robotics, etc.), as well as projects with a very significant scale of investment in key sectors for the energy transition.
Some of the Programme's measures will already be implemented in May and June, and most of them are expected to come into force in the next quarter.