Portuguese business association concerned over Venezuela instability

Although the exposure of Portuguese companies to the situation in Venezuela is “slight”, in the past Venezuela had been a good market for Portuguese companies and those companies set up in the country by Portuguese immigrants.

However, the Portuguese Enterprise Association (AEP) says that although exposure is likely to be “minimal” and that it is too early to draw conclusions after the kidnapping and arrest of President Nicolas Maduro, it is nonetheless concerned.

It believes that this crisis will make the current climate of uncertainty that has already affected some Portuguese companies and companies owned by Portuguese in Venezuela, worse.

Even before the sequestration on January 3, Portugal’s National Statistics Institute INE noted in December that Portuguese companies had already admitted to greater uncertainty as to their future.

“This certainly won’t help. On the contrary, it will make things worse. We are living in a phase in which instability is too high”, said Luís Miguel Ribeiro in an interview with the business daily Negócios on the NOW channel.

The AEP is viewing the situation with some concern, “because anything that brings uncertainty, instability, and unpredictability is always bad for company activities and for the economy”, he said.

In 2024 there were around 165 Portuguese companies exporting to Venezuela, with exports worth €10 million according to the INE from the most recent data.

However, Luís Miguel Ribeiro says it is important not to discount the indirect impacts that could arise.

“We do not know if this will stop here or if there will be other actions by the United States (…) In terms of Portugal’s direct exposure to Venezuela, the economic relations are not of great importance. ​However, ​these actions often have more indirect consequences than those that are directly related to these two markets “, he points out.

Although business with Venezuela is reduced today, it was not always so. ​In 2013, before Maduro was elected, Portuguese exports reached €190 million on the back of 238 companies.

​Asked whether, with a possible regime change, trade relations can return to the strength of the past, the president of the AEP claims that it is “too early to gauge what the consequences will be.”

Image: LusoJornal