Portugal North Region
A Region promoting Competitiveness
Industrial and export vocation
Hubs of Excellence in Research and Development
Creative and cultural industries
Tourism and promotionA Region promoting Competitiveness
The Portugal North Region, located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, is characterised by its opening and exposure to the exterior, by a strong tradition and wealth of experience in international trade and a settled trend to migratory population flows. The region has 144 kilometres of an Atlantic coastline that provides further opportunities for international expansion and economic interaction. This connection to the sea is, in fact, the origin of a remarkable cultural and historical heritage.
Portuguese North Region has 3.7 million inhabitants and a density of population that is 1.5 times above the average for mainland Portugal and the European Union. The dimension of the Greater Porto area, in what concerns population, economic and communication infrastructures, is noteworthy given that it encompasses a potential market of more than three million people living less than one hour in travel time from the area.
The North Region, a young, entrepreneurial and industrial region, where you can find notable artists and creators, has also made use of UNESCO’s World Heritage titles to valorise urban, historical and natural areas possessing strong potential in terms of international development and tourist appeal.
Industrial and export vocation
The strong industrial and export vocation of its region is reflected through a positive regional balance of trade, encompassing exports that account for around 43 percent of all domestic exports. The textile sector is mainly responsible for this fact, supported by significant contributions from the electrical material, machinery sector and footwear sector. Technology-based business areas have concurrently developed - such as the medical devices, pharmaceutical, biochemistry and biotechnology sectors - which have a strong export potential. The main export markets of products from the Portugal North region are exacting and highly competitive, such as the neighbouring Spanish market as well as the German, French, UK and USA markets.
A further exceptional feature of the North Region is that it possesses the stretch of Atlantic coastline with the highest level of international goods traffic to and from the EU, through the five kilometres of docks of Leixões port and the most important airport in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, taking into consideration traffic numbers, area of influence and connectivity. The renovated Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport has now the capacity to handle six million passengers per year and provides connections to more than 25 destinations. In what concerns land borders, Portugal North Region leads the table in relation to passengers between Portugal and Spain and the prospective link to neighbouring Galicia via Chaves, which will include the creation of a strong logistics platform and will lead to an increase in the region figures of the entry and exit of goods.
Enterprising in Portugal North Region is still inseparable from the region’s companies which, in a number of cases, have achieved the echelon of international renown. The “Sonae”, “Amorim” and “Unicer” groups are some of the most significant examples of the region’s business prowess.
Hubs of Excellence in Research and Development
At present, the Portuguese North Region has centres of excellence and of international renown in research & development in a wide range of scientific and technological areas, which have arisen due to the specialisation of upper management and the creation of critical capital in the region’s universities and research centres. This trend is also due to the more than 100,000 students in higher education, most of which are at Porto, Minho and Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro universities. The education provided together with the development of entrepreneurial and creative skills make the North Region a source of top quality human resources.
There are centres of research that have already achieved international accreditation and are the preferred choice of foreign researchers. The following fields and institutions are examples of this fact:
- Health Sciences: Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular (IBMC) [Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology], Instituto de Engenharia Biomédica (INEB) [Institute of Biomedical Engineering] and Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular da Universidade do Porto (IPATIMUP) [Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology of the University of Porto]
- Engineering: Instituto de Polímeros e Compósitos [Institute of Polymers and Composites], 3B’s Research Group – Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics and Instituto de Engenharia Mecânica e Gestão Industrial (INEGI) [Institute of Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Management]
- Information Technology and Communication: Instituto de Engenharia e Sistemas e Computadores do Porto (INESC Porto) [Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering of Porto]
Creative and cultural industries
To characterise Portugal North Region one would have to mention cultural and artistic creation. At present, there are a number of internationally prominent creative and cultural centres in the region. The Casa da Música, designed by the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, is one of the most recent examples, creating a new centre of excellence in the field of the arts and shows, providing more egalitarian access to culture and music.
The internationally famous Fundação de Serralves [Serralves Foundation] is another of the centres of cultural reference in the region, and in Portugal as a whole, in particular through its Museum of Contemporary Art.
Vila Flor Cultural Centre, in Guimarães, distinguishes itself due to its programme and promotion of different, national and international, cultural and artistic events of important relief, establishing a high potential way of picking up new publics.
The region’s cultural vitality is also due to the important role played by public theatres such as Teatro Nacional S. João [S. João National Theatre] in Porto, Teatro Municipal de Vila Real [Vila Real Municipal Theatre] and Teatro Municipal de Bragança [Bragança Municipal Theatre]. The theatre in Porto stages large-scale Portuguese and foreign productions and exports its own productions and those of the institution to foreign markets. At Teatro Municipal de Vila Real, housed in a building that is a reference mark in contemporary Portuguese architecture, the auditoriums fill to see plays, exhibitions, music concerts and dance and modern circus shows. In Bragança, where the building housing the municipal theatre is considered by many to be the most striking public building in the centre of the city, the municipal theatre has achieved a crucial position in the supply of arts and shows within its catchment area.
Artistic and literary creation is one of the region’s most enduring pillars. In literature, the list of the region’s many writers includes names such as Miguel Torga and Agustina Bessa-Luís. Júlio Resende and Graça Morais are just two of the region’s most distinguished artists. In the musical area, the pianists Maria Helena Sá e Costa and Pedro Burmester are from the region. In architecture, the “Porto School” obtained prominence through the work of Fernando Távora, Álvaro Siza, Souto Moura and Alcino Soutinho, as well as many others. In cinema, the director Manoel de Oliveira, from Porto, is one of the most respected and influential directors of 20th and 21st century European cinema; his work is imprinted with the memory and images of Porto, Alto Douro and Trás-os-Montes.
Tourism and promotion
Portuguese North Region, as was recently shown by very positive indicators regarding revenue and an increase in the number of tourist nights, is one of the tourist destinations with the greatest domestic and international growth potential.
The highlights of the many tourist attractions are those classified by UNESCO as World Heritage sites. In 1996, the historical old section of the city of Porto, delineated by the medieval market town, was the first to receive this award due to the well-preserved one thousand year old cultural and commercial buildings. In 1998, the rock paintings at Foz Côa were also declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO due to the fact that the site houses the world’s largest collection of open air prehistoric paintings. In 2001, UNESCO classified the historical section of Guimarães city as a World Heritage site and it classified the wine-making Alto Douro area, where one of the most significant wines in human history – Port Wine - was born, as a “living and evolving cultural landscape”.
In the North Region, tourism also encompasses the opportunity to discover the growing number of certified products with designation of origin. In addition to wine, olive oil, smoked meats, honey and other agro-food products, as well as bobbin lace and filigree work, and many other handicraft goods of extensive quality and authenticity that have also achieved such recognition of origin. The great heritage and cultural value associated to these products has additionally led to the creation of specific promotional instruments, such as the Olive Oil Route in Trás-os-Montes, the Vinhos Verdes Route and the Port Route.
In what concerns, the tourism offer, the region includes Rural Tourism, Agricultural Tourism, Country Houses, Tourism in Villages, Rural Hotels, Farms and Tourism in Manor Houses, many of which are more than one hundred years old; the Alto Minho area is the most significant part of the region in this aspect. Despite being a consolidated market, significant growth in demand for this type of high quality tourism is expected.
In parallel, 40 percent of the region possesses nature protection status, which provides an important opportunity for the supply of environmental, nature and adventure tourism in the future. The tourist routes now include Peneda-Gerês Nature Reserve and other nature reserves such as Montesinho, Alvão and Douro Internacional as compulsory visits.
The organisational and promotional effort employed in relation to the region’s heritage-based tourism supply continues, and at very significant levels. The Roman Route of Vale do Sousa is a recent and successful example of this effort. The route, which crosses six municipalities, includes more than twenty Roman monuments of great historical value.
Portugal North Region
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ON.2 - O Novo Norte
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