Porto in the Top 3 "European cities of the future” of Financial Times
Porto's economic development strategy remains solid when it comes to attracting foreign direct investment. This is once again stated by fDi Intelligence, the Financial Times magazine, for three consecutive years, has placed Porto at the top of the European Cities and Regions of the Future. In this edition, Porto came third on the podium of "Large European Cities", led by Glasgow in Scotland and Antwerp in Belgium.
According to the City Councillor for Economy, Employment and Entrepreneurship, "this result consolidates the city's top position in terms of economic development strategy, particularly in the area of attracting investment".
"Being in the top 3 for the third year running
demonstrates the sustainability of the strategy and the city's ability to
compete," stresses Ricardo Valente, recalling that "the work carried
out by InvestPorto is reflected in the 1.8 billion euros of investment and the
more than 22,000 jobs created."
"In short, this award plays a crucial role in promoting
the city and recognizes the vision of a Porto with a future," said the
councillor.
The fDi Intelligence jury compared the foreign direct
investment promotion strategies of 64 European cities, taking into account
criteria such as the profile and number of foreign investments attracted in the
last 12 months, the fastest-growing sectors of activity and the results of
local policies in terms of attracting talent, energy resilience and
sustainability.
Behind Porto were other European cities of a similar size
such as Bilbao (Spain), Gothenburg (Sweden), Düsseldorf (Germany), Katowice
(Poland), Rotterdam (Netherlands), Izmir (Turkey) and Poznán (Poland).
This year, the British magazine highlighted "the
outlook for foreign direct investment (FDI) in Europe has proved
challenging", with a reduction on the previous year "both in terms of
the number of projects and capital pledges".
"In global terms, Europe's share of total foreign
investment "decreased in 2023, representing around 29% of all projects
announced in 2023 - down from around 36% in 2022", pointed out Financial
times.
Despite the trend in Europe, the results achieved by Porto
in recent years reflect the success of the international investment promotion
strategy implemented by Porto through InvestPorto.
Porto led the fDi Intelligente ranking last year, with the
distinction being awarded in Cannes (France), during MIPIM, the world's largest
event dedicated to the real estate market.
