The 109 Portuguese companies participating in the HANNOVER MESSE 2022, with Portugal as the Partner Country, made thousands of commercial and investment contacts during the four days of the event, returning from Germany with well-founded expectations of closing deals and partnerships following this action to promote Portuguese industry and technology at the world’s largest industry and technology fair.
“It made perfect sense to invest in the HANNOVER MESSE because buyers and investors from all over the world are concentrated here”, said Luís Castro Henriques, AICEP Chairman & CEO. “We are confident that the results generated by this event in terms of both exports and direct investment will fully justify the effort made by the companies and entities involved”.
The Portuguese participation in the HANNOVER MESSE was coordinated by AICEP – Portuguese Trade & Investment Agency and co-organised by AIMMAP – Association of Metal Mechanical Industries of Portugal and AHK – Portuguese-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, having mobilised the main German companies with operations in Portugal and over a hundred Portuguese companies representing the most advanced industrial capacities in the Engineering, Parts and Solutions, Digital Ecosystem and Energy Solutions fields.
The opening ceremony of the Hannover Fair was co-chaired by Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Portugal’s Prime Minister António Costa. The German official stated he was not surprised that Portugal had been chosen as the Partner Country of the Hannover Messe, given the productive and creative development capabilities already well known to some 600 German companies with successful operations in Portugal.
Olaf Scholz also highlighted the deep understanding between the two countries within the framework of the European Union and NATO, the political and social stability and the legal security assured by the Portuguese government to international investors, as arguments for the German companies of the Mittelstand to consider Portugal as an option for new production locations or partnerships with new suppliers.
At the ceremony, Portugal’s Prime Minister António Costa emphasised the competitive way in which the Portuguese industry presents itself to the global market, trusting in the capacities of Portuguese companies to fit into the value chains of the most developed countries in the world, either as suppliers or as business partners.
The high level of training of the new generation, particularly in engineering, with proven talent, creativity and command of foreign languages makes the Portuguese a workforce with high international value. Antonio Costa stressed the extraordinary opportunity of this competitive advantage for German companies with global operations that require professionals qualified to manage businesses in diverse cultural and linguistic environments.
The two politicians visited some exhibitors of well-known brands from German industry and made a walkabout tour in the central pavilion of the Portuguese representation. It was notable how the German Chancellor listened attentively to the explanations of the national entrepreneurs about the products and technologies exhibited.
More than 100 conferences
Throughout the four days of the fair, in the event’s main pavilion, AICEP promoted an intense cycle of conferences under the motto Portugal Makes Sense, creating opportunities of great media visibility for dozens of entities and companies to present their experiences, products and innovation proposals, to spark the interest of buyers, partners and investors.
Portugal Makes Sense conferences covered all topics and interests represented by the 109 participating companies, having registered numerous and interested audiences, in a business networking dynamic that culminated with the Country Partner Night, a networking event to which hundreds of people and entities related to the industry and technologies present at the fair were invited.
