Investment opportunities in Portugal

A country fast recovering from the financial crunch, Portugal offers promising real estate investment opportunities.
Boasting a dynamic real estate market, the country offers a plethora of investment opportunities in the thriving sector, where people and companies from around the world are investing, says Rafael Ascenso, the General Manager of Porta De Frente, a real estate brokerage company from Portugal.
Ascenso, with his company, is coming to Qatar to organise and participate in a two-day seminar, ‘Portugal Real Estate Investment Opportunities’ to be held today and tomorrow at the Four Seasons hotel.
The aim of the seminar is to create awareness among the local Qatari investors about the opportunities Portugal offers, ultimately finding potential investors.
“We will be in Qatar to present Portugal as a very good destination for real estate investment. It is a country with a lot of good opportunities to invest,” Ascenso tells Community in an interview prior to event.
“We (Portugal) are recovering from the financial crises and at this stage we have a very good dynamic in the real estate market. A lot of foreigners are investing in Portugal and go there to live,” says the real estate businessman from Portugal.
Brazilians, French and Swedish are moving to Portugal. Only last year, he says, his company sold properties to 21 different nationalities.
Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, as a price per sqm is below other main cities in Europe and offers the best quality of life for a low price.
“We are the fifth most secure country in the world and Lisbon is a very cosmopolitan city. The quality of construction is far better than in the other European countries,” says Ascenso.
At the two-day seminar to be held in collaboration with the Embassy of Portugal and other real estate companies, Ascenso says they will also go into details of the Golden Visa programme.
This programme allows any person from outside Europe to have a permanent visa for 5 years to enter into Portugal, and then travel to any other country in Europe, any time they want for as long as they want.
All they have to do is to buy a property in Portugal for no less than €500,000. The Golden Visa extends to their immediate family.
“We believe that not many people in Qatar know Portugal well and all that we have to offer. We expect to capture their attention and bring them to invest in our country,” says Ascenso.
They expect to capture the attention of investors who want to invest in a safe environment, in very dynamic and solid city. They are also targeting citizens of Qatar, who may want to have a permanent visa to enter and do business in Portugal (and Europe) without any restrictions.
Porta Da Frente assists the client through and through. “We make a selection of properties, present them to the client and take care of all the legal and tax issues in order to conclude the purchase of the chosen property. We also manage it, rent it and take care of all the legal and fiscal obligations,” says the general manager of the company.
The company represents all kind of properties, from residence to commercial, office, and shopping centres, etcetera.
They can, he says, also support the client in the process of getting the Golden Visa.
The company is looking at two kinds of investors in their current visit to Qatar. One is an individual who is looking to make a private investment in a residential or commercial property, putting some money in a different and solid market, and perhaps apply for the Golden Visa.
The second kind are groups and companies, who will want to start projects on a bigger scale in Portugal.
“We believe that are many good opportunities to invest in Portugal with this focus. And we will present some of them to potential investors,” says Ascenso.
The first session of the seminar will be opened by the ambassador of Portugal to Qatar Antonio Tanger today.