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What does the 1st Douro Business Forum consist of?
It is an event that NERVIR has been preparing for a few months and aims to increase the value of our companies. We will develop a set of actions that help companies to be stronger. During the two days, May 8th and 9th, we will create a great networking environment, which is what our companies need to be stronger and to expand markets.
It’s a forum with different moments. Do you want to explain better what they consist of?
On May 8, in the morning, there will be a debate divided into three main themes: “The challenges and future of companies in low-density territories; The impact of Portugal 2030 and the Recovery and Resilience Plan for SMEs; Associations as a critical factor for the development of territories and companies.
Who will be the speakers?
We will have representatives from the Northern Region Coordination Committee (CCDR-N), the Portuguese Business Confederation (CIP), the Recovery and Resilience Plan Monitoring Committee, IAPMEI, the Portuguese Business Association, the Chamber of Commerce of Valladolid and NERBA. There will be a range of very valuable speakers who will help us design our companies. We will not point out weaknesses, but rather look at the challenges that arise in the current situation, in which the watchword is impressionability. This is what makes planning difficult for them, at a time when we depend on everything that is happening in the world. We want to help companies predict what could happen in the coming years.
It is a forum that takes place in different municipalities…
On the 8th, the first moment will take place at Casa de Mateus. During the afternoon, a sectoral approach will be taken, in which we will give examples of companies that are based in this region and are competitive throughout the world. Let’s value performance.
The first panel covers agri-food, tourism and wine, at the Alijó Auditorium Theatre. The objective was to decentralize, as NERVIR has a strong position at a regional level. We will have a group of companies that can be inspired by the example of others. In other words, being here, in the interior, is not an impediment to being successful anywhere in the world.
We will have several moderators, many of them from UTAD, which is our partner. I highlight Sheree Mitchell, an American journalist linked to luxury tourism. She is a person with a great impact on a global level.
In Vila Real we will have the panel “The Manufacturing Industry” at Regia Douro Park. The panel “Engineering, architecture and construction” takes place in Vila Pouca de Aguiar, in the Municipal Auditorium, where we have the president of the Order of Engineers of the Northern Region.
The panel “New Technologies and Digital” will take place at UTAD, where the objective is to bring companies in the technological area closer to others. This is because these companies have a different global vision and can play a leading role in helping traditional sectors to develop.
These are panels that will take place simultaneously in four different locations and for different audiences.
And on the 9th, what will happen?
We will have a dynamic event, from 9:00 am to 2:30 pm, at Quinta do Paço. It is a pure networking event, in which we invite chambers of commerce and industry from several countries (China, Hong Kong, Angola, Spain, Luxembourg, Belgium, Germany), who will meet with our companies and let you know better each of these markets and the opportunities that exist. We will also have international buyers, who will meet with companies in order to provide them with new business.
How can you participate?
Companies have no cost to participate, they just have to register in advance, through our website and our social networks.
Is this an initiative that will be repeated in the future?
Companies in the Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro region cannot have their businesses too micro, we must have a base of companies working in broader markets and this is only possible through internationalization. Therefore, the event is a tool, together with others, to help companies internationalize.
We want new ideas to emerge from here and a document that serves as a basis for developing new markets. We want it to be held again in two years.
