The 9th edition of the Portugal Real Estate Summit brought together around 400 participants and 60 speakers at the Hotel Palácio Estoril on 15 and 16 September. The event once again exceeded the organisers' expectations, reflecting the continued interest of international investors in the Portuguese property market.
Former Deputy Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Paulo Portas was the keynote speaker at the opening of the Portugal Real Estate Summit. In his speech on the current geopolitical and economic context, he did not hesitate to say that "whatever the economic climate, real estate is crucial for Portugal".
The tensions are well known, and he identified an "attempt to replace a [geopolitical] system of alliances with a system of powers". He believes that "it is important to invest 2% in defence. Europe has believed that there must be peace without the need for investment in defence, but I do not believe that". However, there are challenges: "rearming Europe is a major investment, and significant economic growth is needed to do this without reducing investment in the welfare state". This is not yet happening in several European countries, such as Germany, France and Italy, which have significant debt problems.
He believes that, in the current context, "it is good to invest in Portugal and in Portuguese real estate," which, however, has a supply problem, "because we have built much less in the last 20 years. We need your sector, to be attractive and to attract foreign capital. Because there is no growth without the real estate market. When real estate grows, the economy grows."
Leading international investors come together at this event to discuss the best investment opportunities in various sectors and regions. Year after year, the Portugal Real Estate Summit has established itself as a benchmark event for investors and developers, with the results of this edition confirming that position.
This two-day meeting offered a 360º approach to some of the current issues, opportunities and challenges facing the sector. In this year's edition, tourism, housing and major projects dominated the agenda of the Portugal Real Estate Summit. The six parallel sessions, facilitated by Abreu Advogados, CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield, JLL, Morais Leitão and Savills, filled this year's programme.
The Portugal Real Estate Summit is organised by Iberian Property. Its partners include the main players in the market, such as CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield, JLL, Savills, Abreu Advogados, Morais Leitão, Norfin, Square Asset Management, Refundos Explorer and Nhood.