LISBON: The president of the luso-french chamber of commerce stated that ,more than 750 French companies operating in Portugal, studies showed that Portugal is at the top of French pensioners’ lists of preferred places to retire. These figures are the result of a growing influx of French investors investing in Portugal.
Aicep‘s figures shows that France is the second largest foreign investor in Portugal, having invested around €6.3 billion per year over the past five years.French multinational cable and telecommunications company Altice group recently purchased PT Portugal, and already controlled national companies Cabovisão and Oni.
French investment in Portugal can also be found in the form of Renault, Auchan, Essilor, Alstom and also in the concession of national airport management company ANA Aeroportos, which was taken over by Vinci.
But, Dinheiro Vivo explains, French investment in the Portuguese market has been ongoing for over four decades; the Peugeot-Citroën production factory in Mangualde was opened in 1963.Real estate is another sector in which the French have invested heavily, not only because of the Gold Visa scheme, Dinheiro Vivo claims, but also because of a regime that offers tax exemptions on pensions. French investment in Portuguese real estate accounted for 16 percent of the in 2014.
