Lisbon, Portugal, 30 June – The Portuguese-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry and consulting company Edeluc have set up a partnership to promote economic relations between Portugal and China, particularly investment and foreign trade.

Fernando Costa Freire, managing partner of Edeluc, told Macauhub that the cooperation agreement with the Chamber of Commerce was signed Wednesday with the aim of, “bringing skills and resources together to support Portuguese companies that wish to set up business deals with China.”

The services to be provided to the companies include consultancy and market research studies, preparation of trips, viability studies, events organization and marketing campaigns to support investments in China.

The advantages, Costa Freire said, were “the institutional and representational capacities,” of the Chamber and, from Edeluc’s point of view, the “capacity to access an important network of partnerships in China, and experience on the ground, including our own investments.”

“China is a very attractive market, but is still viewed as having a high risk and difficult for many Portuguese countries, and our job is to try to demystify this perception and set up a climate of greater confidence and security for investments in China through greater knowledge of the market,” he told Macauhub.

Fernanda Ilhéu, the secretary-general of the Chamber said that, “China is a difficult market and we have to learn from the experience of others and learn from some of the mistakes made in the past by some Portuguese companies, who dealt with the Chinese market without the required preparation.”

“The issue is not whether a Portuguese company should or shouldn’t develop its business in China but rather, when, how and where,” said Ilhéu.

Investments between Portugal and China have increased over the last few year and the authorities of both countries have set the target of doubling bilateral trade over the next few years.

In 2005 trade between the two countries totalled 1 billion euros.

The Chamber of Commerce, which was set up in 1978, currently has 170 associated companies in Portugal and 22 in Macau, where it has a delegation.

The Chamber currently holds the post of vice-president of the EU-China Business Association, an umbrella association for Chambers of Commerce between EU companies and China.

Edeluc is the concession-holder of 38 hectares of the Weifant Export Processing Area, in China’s Shangdong province, to which it has been trying to attract investors through European road shows. (macauhub)