Mobility - Sectors - InvestPorto

The automotive sector has great impact in the Portuguese economy, with a significant weight in exports and domestic employment. Some of the best examples in the sector are in the city or in the region.

In Porto several entities are contributing to the sound development of the automobile sector in Portugal. They operate in cross-cutting areas such as ICT (enhancing developments in various areas including green electronic or intelligent sensors), energy, natural resources and the environment.

Similarly, the production technologies sector plays a key role within the automotive industry. It is worth highlighting the existence in the city of some important entities dedicated to the development of technologies related to efficiency gains in production, via flexible, intelligent and adaptive production systems.

High Know-How

Porto holds a high know-how and recognized quality in areas linked to the support to mobility industries.

There's a high know-how, namely in textiles, rubber, cork, glass, moulds and plastic, and production technologies.

Several R&D units are dedicated to sustainability and innovation issues within the automotive production process, including auto components (new means of transport, low-carbon, green, new fuels) on the one hand, and to the advanced technologies applied to the sector (ICT and electronics, optics and laser, robotics, automation and control) on the other, in addition to the use and exploitation of new materials.

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The Specialisation Profile has contributed also to the Development of the Aviation Sector

Portugal has international recognition at the level of maintenance services and aeronautical engineering.

The aeronautical sector in the region has benefited to a large extent from the presence in the country not only of large companies with international recognition operating in areas linked to services maintenance and aeronautical engineering, but also of one of the world´s largest aircraft manufacturers.

The vivacity of this industry, coupled with the knowledge and scale achieved so far, encourage the establishment of some organisations in the city, thus contributing to the national aeronautical cluster.

There is scientific expertise around the automotive and aeronautical industry (CEIIA and INEGI are particularly noteworthy), but also support skills in other areas linked to mobility such as Chemistry, Materials and Biotechnology.

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Funding Instruments Available

The projects promoted by Portugal 2020 that seek to demonstrate the economic and technical advantages of new technological solutions, that are not sufficiently validated from the technological point of view for commercial use, may be financed.

The incentive is non-refundable up to a maximum of 1 million euros per project.
Several expenses may be financed up to 85%, including costs related to:

Technical staff dedicated to R&D activities;
Patents acquisition;
Raw materials, consumables and prototype construction and pilot plants;
Technical and scientific assistance, and consulting;
Electronic platforms for open innovation and crowdsourcing;
Purchase of instruments and scientific and technical equipment;
Specific software;
Costs linked to the promotion and dissemination of the results deriving from product innovation or process projects;
Costs with travel and accommodation abroad, when necessary to carry out the project.

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