CCIPG, PLMJ, B’TEN and GT launch the first Guide to Investiment in Guinea-Bissau 2016/2017

The Portugal Guinea-Bissau Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIPGB), PLMJ, B’TEN and Grant Thornton & Associados, will launch the first Guide to Investment in Guinea-Bissau on 27 October at 17h at the ISCSP – Ajuda Annex of the University of Lisbon.

The guide will be presented by the researcher Mónica Ferro, who will be joined by the President of the ISCSP, Professor Manuel Meirinhos, the Charge D’affaires of Guinea-Bissau in Portugal, Mbala Fernandes and the President of the CCIPGB, Jorge Sousa. Contributions will also be made by those responsible for preparing the guide: Manuel Santos Vítor, a partner at PLMJ, Pedro Lisboa Nunes, a partner at Grant Thornton & Associados and Sérgio Lorga, CEO of B’TEN Business Talent Enterprise Network.

This guide takes a consistent and practical approach to the main areas critical to investors: the legal framework, coordinated by PLMJ lawyers Manuel Santos Vítor and Catarina Cortez Gamito, the accounting and tax framework, prepared by Carlos Lisboa Nunes and José Colaço of Grant Thornton, and an overview of the socio-economic situation and sectors of the country prepared by Sérgio Lorga, José Cardoso de Matos and Catarina Ramos from B’TEN.
The President of the CCIPGB, Jorge Sousa, says that “this is a crucial and historic moment, because it is the first time a crucial tool to plan Portuguese investment in Guinea-Bissau has been made available in a systematic, coherent and technically skilled way.”

For Manuel Santos Vítor, “Guinea-Bissau is a country of potential and opportunity of interest to Portuguese entrepreneurs who should consider investing and establishing partnerships in a country that needs investment in almost every sector. It is also a country which, for example, does not have the exchange problems and limitations on exporting profits and invested capital that we witness in other African countries. Being fully aware of this situation, PLMJ has participated in preparing this guide, which reflects the experience we have in advising foreign investors in this country”.

Along the same lines, Sérgio Lorga emphasises that “Guinea-Bissau has vast resources, ranging from agriculture and fisheries, to water and mineral resources. It also benefits from forestry and environmental assets with high economic potential.”
 
This is an opinion shared by Pedro Lisboa Nunes, who stresses that “Guinea-Bissau has an interesting tax framework and speed in formalising companies. It also has beautiful landscape, biodiversity, a rich history, and cultural and social diversity, which provide opportunities in the area of tourism. As a member of the CEDEAO, it is also an excellent gateway to a market of 300 million consumers from various African countries."