Hosted by the Ocean Forum (Fórum Oceano) - Associação da Economia do Mar (Association of Maritime Economy) - a private non-profit corporation that aims to promote activities relating to the maritime economy - the mission was part of a broader visit to Europe by a delegation made up of representatives of 13 US organisations working in the field.
In comments to Lusa News Agency, the secretary-general of the Ocean Forum, Rui Azevedo, said that the visit provided “the opportunity to present a range of instruments that are at [our] disposal to help investments in Portugal”, as part of the European Union-funded Portugal 2020 and Fundo Azul programmes, as well as “a range of other possibilities for attracting investment”.
If proposed projects are “relevant and profitable”, he said, “there will certainly be investment to help them.”
According to Azevedo, the mission to Portugal included some 100 business meetings between members of the US delegation and local companies, which made it possible to “deepen” cooperation with San Diego’s Blue Tech Cluster.
Work between different clusters, he said, “is fundamental to bringing some ideas to fruition.”
An informal network of such clusters has formed following a series of meetings between representatives from Portugal, Spain, France, the UK, Ireland, Canada and the US, with the objective of exchanging information between its members.
The Ocean Forum itself has over 100 members, working in everything from conservation, processing and marketing of fish and fish products, the shipping industry, shipyards, fisheries and fish farming, ports, transport and logistics.