Lisbon, April 7, 2025 (Lusa) - The president of Portugal's Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade (AICEP) said o0n Monday that "there is a sea of opportunities" that Portugal and Japan can develop together as part of Expo Osaka, which kicks off on Sunday.
"Portugal is obviously making a big investment in the Osaka exhibition and, as well as publicising Portuguese culture and tradition, the aim is also to reap the economic results that this exhibition can produce for Portugal," said Ricardo Arroja, who was speaking to journalists at the end of the meeting on Portugal's participation in Expo 2025 Osaka, which took place at the agency's headquarters.
In fact, "Portugal and Japan have a very well-established bilateral relationship, and naturally there is potential for this relationship to expand".
From AICEP "we seek to promote the internationalisation of the Portuguese economy, namely the international activities that Portuguese companies can have in Japan and elsewhere, and therefore Japan also serves as a lever for our presence in Asia," and the agency also "aims to promote the attraction of foreign direct investment to Portugal".
Ricardo Arroja emphasised that Japan "is a country where Portuguese companies are already operating, pointing out that “at the moment there are around 1,000 companies directly exporting goods” to the Japanese market.
"The goal, of course, is to grow far beyond that number so that Japan can be a base not only for Portuguese exports, but also for the internationalisation of Portuguese companies, particularly those that are more ambitious and have the resources to do so in places as far away as Japan," he stressed.
At the same time, "we also have foreign direct investment in Portugal from Japan in various areas", including agriculture, industry, energy, technology and science, among others.
"In short, there is a sea of opportunities here that Portugal and Japan can develop together at a time when Portugal is so well placed to reconcile what is Portuguese tradition, [...] and the modernity and technology and science that Portugal is also capable of projecting to the world today and which is of interest, in particular, to some of these more advanced countries, such as Japan," he emphasised.
The president of AICEP listed the various areas where Portugal "compares well on the international stage", both in the "great leadership in the field of renewable energies" and in the increasingly "competitive" life sciences.
He highlighted agriculture, "where we are also seeing a great modernisation of production techniques" or aeronautics, "where Portugal is also very highly ranked" or even technical textiles.
In short, "there is no shortage of opportunities for Portugal to benefit from foreign direct investment from Japan", and currently "there is a total amount of Japanese direct investment in Portugal of around €600 million", he added.
Therefore, "we can grow far beyond this figure, once there is a good awareness of Portugal in Japan".
With this in mind, AICEP, alongside the exhibition, "will be organising a series of economic seminars focused" on mobility, life sciences and the economy and maritime affairs in Tokyo, in line with the themed weeks at Expo 2025.
The mobility seminar will take place on May 22, the life sciences seminar on July 1, the defence seminar on August 8 and the blue economy seminar on September 24.
The economy of the sea is "an activity that cuts across a number of economic sectors", such as agriculture, energy, telecommunications, fish, where Portugal "can position itself and therefore benefit from Japan's capacity for investment".
AICEP and Startup Portugal will be taking Portuguese startups and scaleups to Japan, and applications are open until 13 April.
Ricardo Arroja emphasised that the automotive industry, ‘naturally’, is a sector "where there are also significant investments by Japanese institutions" in Portugal.
Asked about possible Japanese investments in Portugal, the president of the foreign trade agency concluded: "At AICEP, we only communicate investments when they have materialised".
Now, "the answer, as far as the pipeline is concerned, is yes, we are interacting with investments from various geographies and Japan, obviously, is a country where AICEP has a presence," where it has an office in Tokyo.
Regarding Portugal's presence at Expo 2025 Osaka, he emphasised that "the pavilion is very attractive", being built using suspended ropes, "in an architectural design that works very well", and that it is a project "that makes use of recycling themes".
Within the framework of the theme "which is encapsulated by the universal exhibition, we are, in fact, something of an apologist for biodiversity, for environmental protection, as a country that combines a virtuous fusion between nature and new opportunities for economic growth".
The aim, "as head of the AICEP, is to project a dignified, modern and strong image of Portugal in that part of the world".
Asked about the tariffs applied by the United States, Ricardo Arroja declined to talk about the issue. However, he said that "Portugal is looking to diversify its markets" and, in the case of Japan, Lisbon can "grow much further".
He added: "Portugal's goal is naturally to diversify its export markets and Asia today encompasses a number of countries for which growth rates are expected to be much higher than in the Western world".
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