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.

The attraction of new companies from various fields of activity implies that human resources with appropriate skills are available in the municipality. Human resources are fundamental for attracting new businesses for the city.

InvestBraga, in cooperation with its strategic partners and other local partners that are necessary for the process of identification, selection and recruitment of human resources, seeks to support companies in the search for local resources and talents that meet their needs.

The project Work in Braga, a partnership between InvestBraga, Braga City Council and 23 companies in the municipality, aims to bring the companies, the academic community and the human resources available closer together. Integrating the employment demand and offer and training, it provides information about the municipality of Braga for those who live here and for those who intend to come here to live.

The survey of the Human Resources needs of the municipality allows the identification of the talent profiles currently required, the training needs and the identification of the gaps currently existing in the organizations that participate in the Study and cross it with the exit profiles of Universities and Training entities.

In this sense, bringing the exit profiles of the training centers closer to the profiles required in the business fabric is vital for the balance of the labour market in Braga.

Visit us at Work in Braga

When creating new companies and businesses, it may be required to use professional training programs for human resources, in order to acquire the knowledge, skills, techniques and behaviour requirements for the new jobs that these companies want to create locally.

The development of new experiences and the addition of new professional skills shall be guaranteed in collaboration with the company, when setting the hiring profiles, and also the support of the strategic partners and other local partners that have the ideal programs and trainers, or the ability to create customized actions.

If it is determined that there are not enough human resources with the correct training and experience in certain areas, which are critical for the creation of new activities of added value to the municipality, or that would create new job offers, the course of action would be to start training programs for the conversion of unemployed human resources or other resources that are unable to find a job offer that is suitable for their set of skills.

The project Work in Braga, a partnership between InvestBraga, Braga City Council and 23 companies in the municipality, aims to bring the companies, the academic community and the human resources available closer together. Integrating the employment demand and offer and training, it provides information about the municipality of Braga for those who live here and for those who intend to come here to live.

The survey of the Human Resources needs of the municipality, allows the identification of the talent profiles currently required, the training needs and the identification of the gaps currently existing in the organizations that participate in the Study and cross it with the exit profiles of Universities and Training entities.

In this sense, bringing the exit profiles of the training centers closer to the profiles required in the business fabric, is vital for the balance of the labor market in Braga.

Visit us at Work in Braga

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.

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 national programs and the investment support tools.

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».

Portugal 2020 was set on four main themes: competitiveness and internationalization, human capital, social inclusion and employment and sustainability and efficiency in the use of resources.

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 international programs and the investment support tools.

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 Sklodowska-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.

Europe has the Horizon 2030 as a goal for several areas, and the definition of several challenges for this period is underway, where Sustainability already seems to be a central theme in the various discussions.