Portugal intended to serve as a platform for Brazilian companies to enter the European Union (EU) market, Portugal's Minister of Economy and Innovation Manuel Pinho said on Monday.

Pinho said companies in Brazil would soon export from other countries, a process in which Portugal would like to increase its participation.

The minister added that he expected Portugal to be a bridge between the Brazilian companies and the rest of the world, but he did not reveal which companies were willing to establish branches or subsidiary companies in the European country.

Pinho also said the increased investment from Portuguese companies in Brazil was based on their trust in the Brazilian economy and government.

Pinho said his country would also increase investment in energy cooperation between the two nations.

Portugal's EDP (Energias de Portugal) and Brazil's state-owned electric power company Furnas planned to establish the hydroelectric power plant of Peixe Angical in the state of Tocantins, in the south of the Amazon rainforest region.

The EDP's CEO said at the inauguration that the group expected to increase investment from 2.5 billion to 3 billion reals (about 1.15 billion to 1.38 billion U.S. dollars) in Brazil by 2010.

Source: Xinhua