Strategic location 

• Nearest European country to the U.S.
• 3‐hour time difference from Brazil and Russia.
• Same time as UK and Ireland.
• Daily flights to major European cities. 

Attractive Consumer Market 

• Great and privileged economic relations between Portugal, Brazil, Angola and Mozambique. 

• South/Central America potential 

Facilities and Resources

• Portugal ranks number one among EU countries in terms of public services online (European Commission)
• Portugal has world renowned logistics and infrastructure in rail, airways and sea, both for passengers and cargo;
• High potential in geological resources
• Safety - low criminality

Human Resources

• Portugal had the biggest overall improvement in education among the OECD European countries (Pisa 2012, OECD)
• Foreign languages: Portugal has the 7th highest score in English tests (TOEFL, 2011)
• The highest share of Science and Engineering degrees in EU (NSF 2012, USA)
• Between 2008 and 2013 Portugal had the second largest hourly labour cost decrease (‐5.1%) within the EU (average 10.4% increase in the euro area). 

Entrepreneurship

• Improvement of the business regulatory environment and distance reduction as regards to reference indicators of the ranking, allowing to reduce both time and cost of business registrations, leading to a rise of 17% in the number of start‐ups; among 189 countries,
• 10th position in terms of starting a business. 

Competitiveness

• Corporate income tax rate reduction and creation of a simplified tax system for SMEs; 

• 27th position in terms of the reduction of commercial disputes, an essential element for promotion of a friendlier environment to enterprises. 

• Portugal occupies at present the 25th position on the indicator concerning to property registration procedures and is consequence of the implementation of quicker procedures, a fact highlighted on the DB 2013 report, where Portugal was 1st, among the countries that had facilitated property registration procedures the most 

• Also noteworthy was the 10th position in terms of procedures for insolvency resolutions.