Costa says Portugal and Spain have “all the factors” to build “a great bridge” between Europe and the rest of the world – Observer
Prime Minister António Costa defended this Wednesday that Portugal and Spain have “all the factors” to establish “a great bridge” between Europe and the rest of the world, a link that he considered to be more necessary than ever.
In the presence of the ambassadors of both countries, the Portuguese prime minister stated that Portugal and Spain must “Looking more and more to the peninsula [Ibérica] as a set ” and defend “a common effort to further integrate the economies” of the two countries.
“Only this integration allows us, in fact, to have a stronger position in Europe and stronger in this global world”, argued António Costa.
Costa remembered that the two countries ensured “the first Age of Globalization in the history of mankind” and stressed that it continues to have “all the factors” to be “a great bridge between Europe and the rest of the world”.
“We have the position that geography has given us, but today we also have the historical and cultural connections that history knew how to build. And this is a huge asset, not only for Portugal and Spain, but also for what it can add to Europe”, stressed the head of the Portuguese Government.
António Costa was speaking in Sines after signing the investment contract between Repsol and the Government, which provides for tax incentives of up to 63 million euros for a project worth 657 million euros, named as “the biggest industrial investment in the last decade”.
Repsol wants to make Complexo de Sines one of the most advanced and competitive in Europe
The prime minister considered the signing of the agreement “good news for the synergies of the Portuguese and Spanish economies” and recalled that the two countries are now “allies in NATO” and “partners in the European Union”, so they have to make their neighborhood “not a reciprocal difficulty, but a common advantage” to build bridges together with the rest of the world.
“If this was useful in the past, now, after Brexit, it is even more necessary than ever. Because the UK exit and the growing enlargement [da União Europeia] to the East, we have a duty to ensure that Europe does not close in on itself and does not become too continental, but, on the contrary, remains open to the world. And this opening to the world necessarily involves the [oceano] Atlantic”, maintained the prime minister.
The contract signed this Wednesday between Repsol and the Government, at the Sines Industrial Complex, will allow the Spanish company to invest in the construction of two polymer factories, each with a capacity of 300,000 tonnes per year, with 100% products recyclables.
According to the company, the technologies of the two plants, whose completion is scheduled for 2025, “guarantee maximum energy efficiency, are market leaders and the first of their kind to be installed in the Iberian Peninsula”.
Repsol forecasts that, during the construction phase, the project will employ an average of 550 people, reaching a peak of more than 1,000 jobs. It also provides for “a net increase in jobs” of “about 75 direct jobs and 300 indirect jobs”.