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The analysis of the new business projects and business plans presented by companies and entrepreneurs, has to be complete and take into account the different kinds of needs throughout the development of the investment process.

From the initial business idea to the market, the needs may vary, naturally or depending on the incentives available, as the investment plan is implemented.

InvestBraga seeks to respond to the needs of the various types of investment, that vary depending on the size and sector of activity, aiming to support the setting and development of the investments to be implemented in the Municipality of Braga.

InvestBraga has the collaboration of several partners, national and local, with whom it maintains close relations, namely the entities that are members of its Strategic Council, such as IAPMEI, AICEP, IEFP, University of Minho, IPCA, the Catholic University, the Commercial Association of Braga and other entities such as INL, Research Centres, Universities interface units, Management and Consulting Support Companies, Social and Business Support Associations, Business Incubators and municipal companies such as TUB, AGERE, BRAGAHABIT and Braga City Council’s Directions, Divisions and Departments within the scope of their regulatory and licensing powers.

Public and private agents and entities, at national and regional level, with skills to support economic development and investment promotion are partners with whom InvestBraga develops cooperation and investment promotion relationships.

Do you need facilities?

Identifying the locations for industries or services is fundamental for the setting of new businesses.

InvestBraga aims to ease the identification of the ideal location for the installation of the different types of businesses from all the fields of economic activity, according to the specifications and needs of the investors and the entrepreneurs.

The identified locations can be land for construction, in industrial areas (municipal or private), pavilions for the installation of industries and commercial activities, offices and areas for the installation of services, that are available for purchase, rent or service contract, associated to the use of a space with infrastructures and common services to support the installation of companies.

InvestBraga has a list of owners and promoters through which it obtains and channels several space proposals to the investors that are planning on setting their businesses in Braga.

Do you need help with licensing?

The licensing of the economic activities defined by law usually requires the evaluation of several variables according to each specific investment case.

The licensing processes usually generate costs of context due to situations of particular complexity, lengthy procedures, poor coordination between the relevant public organisms, among other reasons.

InvestBraga in a close relationship with Braga City Council and the various divisions and departments responsible for the licensing and regulation of economic activities, in order to allow the implementation of a fast track licensing, seeks to speed up and facilitate the identification of economic investments of strategic interest, adopting a procedure that aims to be faster and more efficient in the obtention of the licenses.

Do you need help applying for local incentives?

InvestBraga, together with its strategic partners and the national and regional entities dedicated to managing the funds and public incentives to investment, aims to create a framework for the projects and the investment plans of the companies and the local entrepreneurs within the local programs and the investment support tools.

Municipal Incentives: Grant Regulation of benefits and incentives

When it comes to promoting development in the Municipality of Braga, Braga City Council defines the terms, conditions and rules for assigning the incentives or local investment benefits, within its own competences of supporting the creation and setting of companies, employment and investment.

The incentives or benefits that the Municipalities can grant to private entities, within their scope of promoting and obtaining investment, can be of various natures. These incentives can be organized in three categories:

Tax incentives.
Financial incentives.
Incentives of technical or administrative nature.

Braga City Council grants Municipal incentives to companies that want to establish themselves in Braga or companies that are already established in Braga and want to expand their business.

See the Conditions by consulting the Grant Regulation for Investment Incentives of the Municipality of Braga and submit your application.

Do you need help applying for national incentives?

Portugal 2020 and Norte 2020

The European funds are a crucial investment for the incentive and transformation of economical growth, for which the negotiable goods and services, i.e. the exports, should be the main driving force in the fight against unemployment and social exclusion in a long lasting way.

According to the Government, «One of the great priorities is the displacement of the infrastructure investment, where Portugal is above the European average, for the competitiveness and internationalization of the companies, which is the largest deficit of the country and the main reason why, in the past, and very frequently, we have entered situations of financial unsustainability».

Do you need help applying for international incentives?

We still have the HORIZON 2020 program, as a Community framework program for research and innovation for supporting companies, with a global budget of more than 77 billion euros for the period 2014-2020, being the European Union's largest instrument specifically oriented towards supporting research and innovation, mainly through the co-financing of research, technological development, demonstration and innovation projects.

Horizon 2020 is based on three priority action pillars:

Scientific Excellence

It integrates activities aimed at strengthening and extending the excellence of the EU's scientific base and making the European research and innovation system more competitive on a global scale, around the following themes:

European Research Council (European Research Council (ERC))
Future and Emerging Technologies (FET - Future and Emerging Technologies)
Marie Curie Actions (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions)
Research infrastructures (Research infrastructures)

Industrial Leadership

In order to accelerate the development of the technologies and innovations that will underlie companies in the future and to help innovative European SMEs to grow and become world leading companies, with the following specific objectives:

- Leadership in Facilitating and Industrial Technologies ("Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies") - support for research, development and demonstration and, where appropriate, standardization and certification, in the field of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), Nanotechnology, Materials Advanced, Biotechnology, Advanced Manufacturing and Processing and Space;

- Access to Risk Finance ("Access to risk finance") aims to fill the gaps in access to loans and equity for R&D and innovation projects of companies at all stages of their life cycle. InnovFin - EU Finance for Innovators - an initiative of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Commission, under the Horizon 2020 Program, together with the financial instruments made available by COSME, offers a set of financial instruments and advice, covering the entire the research and innovation chain to support business investments, including SMEs and micro-enterprises;

- Innovation in SMEs ("Innovation in SMEs") provides services "tailored" to the needs of SMEs, with a view to stimulating all forms of innovation and encouraging their internationalization.

Societal Challenges

It supports activities from research to the market, with an emphasis on the pilot, demonstration, test-beds and support to public demand and commercialization, with funding focused on the following challenges: health, demographic changes and the well-being of populations; food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine and maritime research, and the bioeconomy; safe, clean and efficient energy; integrated green and smart transport; climate change, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials; inclusive and innovative societies; safe societies and climate action.

See also the specific support for SME innovation, at:

- SME instrument - aimed at innovative SMEs that aim to develop their growth potential. It provides fixed amounts for feasibility studies, grants for the main phase of innovation projects (demonstration, prototype development, tests, application development ...); the commercialization phase is supported indirectly through easier access to debt and equity financial instruments.

Are you looking for specialized talent?

You're in the right place.

Work in Braga allows you to publish your job advertisements, as well as see the available Talents who are looking for our city to work.

You can also find specialized training here.

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