Tokyo, Sept. 11, 2025 (Lusa) - Portugal's minister of the economy on Thursday attributed the 11% drop in exports in July to "atypical months" due to US tariffs, but believes that things will "return to normal" and advocated market diversification, including Japan.
Manuel Castro Almeida took part today in a meeting with the business confederation and representatives of Japanese multinational companies, which is taking place as part of Prime Minister Luís Montenegro's visit to Japan.
The Portuguese National Statistics Institute (INE) announced this week that exports of goods fell by 11.3% and imports rose by 2.8% in July, year-on-year.
"There has been turmoil in international trade because of US tariffs, and therefore the last two months have been atypical, because there had also been an extraordinary increase in exports before the tariffs. I believe that things will return to normal," he said.
"We have to do our job, and our job is to diversify markets, which is what we are trying to do here in Japan," he added.
The minister pointed out that "Japan is a country of enormous importance in the world economy" and that "there has not been a visit by the minister of the economy for more than 10 years".
"We want to relaunch trade relations with Japan, which are currently very weak," he said, pointing out that, even so, there are around 120 Japanese companies operating in Portugal and more than a thousand Portuguese companies exporting to Japan.
"What we really want is to increase exports to Japan and attract Japanese direct investment in Portugal, especially in the areas of energy and renewable energy, where the Japanese have great know-how and Portugal has a great appetite for this area, and we want to export, especially in the pharmaceutical area, the entire area of biotechnology and the agri-food area," he pointed out.
Asked how the elevation of bilateral relations between Portugal and Japan to a strategic partnership could increase this investment, Castro Almeida said that companies like to know that "there is political backing."
"Let's say that companies feel blessed in their mission to invest in a certain country, and when, at the political level, a strategic partnership is formed with Portugal, it means that Portugal is a reliable country, one that deserves investment, a credible country, a country with stability that generates confidence, which is everything that entrepreneurs like to know," he said.
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