Golden Visa helped put Portugal on the investment map, Portugal Investment Forum hears

The Golden Visa programme “put Portugal in the market for investment” and helped transform its cities, according to speakers at the inaugural Portugal Investment Forum.

The comments came during a panel discussion at the event in Lagos, part of a five-date nationwide debate on how to grow the country’s economy further.

Duarte Ornelas Monteiro, a lawyer at RFF, one of Portugal’s oldest and best-established law firms, said the programme’s impact is easy to overlook.

“Back some 15 years ago,” he explained, “downtown Lisbon was basically crashed. It was essentially investment through the Golden Visa programme that created what it is today.

“The Golden Visa had that purpose. It put Portugal in the market for investment.”

Under the original rules, the Golden Visa was available through a €500,000 investment in real estate. That route was withdrawn in 2023 amid concerns about its effect on the local housing market.

There is speculation that new conditions being considered by the Portuguese government could help address the shortage of affordable housing.

The wider economic impact of the residency-by-investment scheme was highlighted by Gerry Fagan, chairman of DDM, an Algarve-based property developer.

“The Golden Visa is probably the most underestimated programme in terms of what it achieved for the whole of Portugal,” he said.

The government says the programme has generated €9 billion of direct investment since its launch in 2012.

Fagan added: “That’s not a fraction of the benefits that Portugal has had from it.

“People came and they liked what they saw in Portugal.

“Affordable housing is absolutely needed because if you want to maintain the services for your golf courses, the services for your restaurants, for all of the technical people that we need to run our businesses and so on, they have to have housing.”

The panel was hosted by Paul Stannard, founder and chairman of event organisers Portugal Pathways and the Portugal Investment Owners Club.

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About Portugal Future Fund

The Portugal Future Fund strategically invests in key sectors, driving growth and innovation across Portugal. Approved for Portugal’s Golden Visa residency-by-investment, it offers a unique opportunity for impactful and rewarding participation.

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