Ireland-Portugal Business Network meets to discuss investment in Porto
Porto.
· 26 Apr 2022
Porto Innovation Hub hosted the first conference of the Ireland Portugal Business Network (IPBN) organised in the city. In this Thursday's session, the municipality presented its strategy for attracting investment and talent before an audience where, in addition to representatives of companies operating in Porto and national companies considering expansion to Ireland, was the Irish Ambassador to Portugal, Ralph Victory.
The director of Economy of Porto City Council, Rui Monteiro, welcomed everyone to Porto, referring to this meeting as "proof of how resilient a city we are". "Our mission is very simple: to help you achieve your goals, your dreams," he stressed, introducing a presentation on the work developed by Invest Porto in attracting investment.
In the session at the Porto Innovation Hub, the Irish Ambassador in Portugal recalled that, "in order to be efficient, Ireland must listen, build new partnerships and be present in places where it has not yet been". "Growing the links between Ireland and Portugal, in particular with the Porto region, has become even more important as together we face the economic crisis and others that come in the future," believes Ralph Victory.
Geoffrey Graham, Chair of the IPBN Board of Directors, admitted that more events of this kind could come to the city, given the "synergies between IPBN and Porto City Council", adding how "the growth of Porto is important for the sustainability of the network".
During the morning, the Porto City Council's Director of Economy was also part of a panel where, alongside the Corporate Communication Manager of Global Shares, Aisling Riordan, and Philomène Dias, Director of Inward Investment at AICEP Portugal Global - Portugal's Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade, shared ideas around the theme "Doing Business & Investing in Porto".
In this first conference of the network in Porto there was also space for the presentation of Global Shares, a member of the business network that links Ireland and Portugal, which this year opened an office in Porto and is recruiting at least 80 people to work in Information Technology.
Responsible for managing employee stock plans for startups, tech unicorns and some of the world's biggest corporate brands, Global Shares occupies an office in the UPTEC building - Science and Technology Park of the University of Porto.
The company's Corporate Communications manager, Aisling Riordan, admitted that the choice of Porto was largely due to "access to a highly qualified workforce", in addition to a "thriving scenario in the fintech area" or even the "quality of life".
The Ireland Portugal Business Network also brought the opportunity to get to know the case studies of Musicmaker, an award-winning Irish company in the area of music and events, of the recruitment company Vitae Professionals, and of Craftable Software, with offices in Boavista.
