Tag Archives: india portugal relations

India and Portugal: Modi Trumps up Support for start ups

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In his latest foreign visit to Portugal, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed MoUs in Lisbon for creation of an India Portugal Space Alliance and launched a unique startup Portal – the India-Portugal International StartUp Hub (IPISH) – in Lisbon.

While the agreements will promote India’s science and technology partnership with Portugal, towards the establishment of a unique Centre on the Azores Archipelago – the Atlantic International Research Centre for trans-Atlantic and north-south cooperation, both countries vowed to create an international network of research and academic organizations to foster a new climate, earth, space and marine research.

With respect to space, cooperation is expected to include development and cooperation of next generation nano and micro satellites. On marine sciences, the project would enable India to study the atmospheric and ocean behaviour of the Atlantic and its linkages with weather patterns including the Monsoon.

The India-Portugal International StartUp Hub (IPISH) is a platform initiated by Startup India and supported by Commerce & Industry Ministry and Startup Portugal for entrepreneurial partnership hosting a range of tools to provide information on the start-up hot spots of Bangalore, Delhi and Lisbon, including policy, taxation, and visa options. It will develop a Go-To-Market Guide too, said a joint statement.

IPISH is expected to help in mutual capacity building, and enable connections between start-ups, investors, and incubators from relevant sectors. It is also expected to establish a network of honorary ambassadors based in India and Portugal to guide start-ups from both countries.

There are strong complementaries between India and Portugal in the start-up sector as Portugal has one of the highest rates of business creation in Europe and has emerged as one of the most vibrant European eco-systems for entrepreneurship.

Lisbon is hosting the Web Summit – a key annual international technology conference – for 3 years from 2016 onwards and in the last Web Summit, more than 700 participants from India participated and the number is expected to go up further this year.

India, Portugal to Work Out Pact on Co-Production in Films Sector

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India and Portugal have agreed to work out modalities for a co-production agreement in the Film Sector and an agreement would be framed in a time-bound manner keeping in mind the legal aspects, said a statement.

The possibility of an MoU between the Public Broadcasters of both the Countries to share best practices and seek cooperation in Technical and Content related matters was discussed during the talks between Indian Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore and Portugal Minister of Culture, Mr. Luis Filipe Castro Mendes on Tuesday in New Delhi.

During the deliberations, Col. Rathore apprised the Portuguese Minister on the initiatives taken by India to provide Single Window clearances for Foreign Film Producers in the country through the Film Facilitation Office. He also highlighted the prestigious National Film Heritage Mission of the Government to Digitise, Restore, Preserve the rich filmic heritage of the Country.

Rathore also apprised the Portuguese Minister about the IIMC and FTII as the premier educational institutes in the field of Journalism and Film Production respectively in the country. Both Ministers also discussed the possibility of Student Exchange programmes between educational institutions of both the countries.

Ministers also expressed interest for possible co-operation in the areas of Renewable energy, information and communication technology and Start-ups.

Portugal PM Visits Ancestral Home in Goa

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António Costa

Portugal Prime Minister António Costa, who is on an official visit to India, was greeted with six Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) between India and Portugal being signed on the occasion, including one pact on defence cooperation.

Later Mr Costa visited Goa, his ancestral home and Bengaluru where he was the Chief Guest at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas opened on Saturday. The Portugal PM is on a seven-day visit to India. Portugal PM Costa presented PM Modi with Portuguese soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo’s jersey.

PM Narendra Modi, welcoming the visiting Portugal PM, said, “It gives me immense pleasure to welcome you and your delegation to India. We are deeply honoured that you accepted our invitation to be the Chief Guest at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas. In my extensive discussion with Portugal PM we reviewed the full range of India-Portugal ties.”

On Portugal’s support to India’s Nuclear Supply Group membership, he said, “We are grateful to Portugal for their continued support for India’s membership in Nuclear Suppliers Group. The MoU on Defence cooperation signed today will help us harness our respective strengths in this field for mutual benefit.”

Costa’s father was writer Orlando da Costa, who was of Goan, Portuguese, and French descent. His 200-year-old ancestral house on Abade Faria Road in Margao, where Anna Kaarina Costa, first cousin of the Portugal Prime Minister, currently lives was spruced up for his visit.

This is his second visit to the house, the first was when he had come with his parents as a teenager. Portugal ruled Goa till 1961.