The president of the Association of Luso-Chinese Merchants and Industrialists (ACILC) said on Monday that the sector of assisted living for the elderly should be one of the new bets of Chinese investment in Portugal.

In an interview with Lusa, a few days before the official visit to Portugal of Macau’s chief executive, Ho Iat Seng, Choi Man Hin, who was also the right-hand man for the Portuguese market of Luso-Chinese businessman and gaming magnate Stanley Ho, argued that Portugal “is undoubtedly a good country for tourists” and could be a good destination “to create a business of farms with a large area for the elderly to live.

The Chinese community leader, who was chairman of the board of directors of Estoril Sol, the company that owns the Lisbon casino and manages the Estoril casino, among others, recalled that Portugal “has calm, peace” and this can be used to attract retirees.

“This is positive for immigrants and for Chinese investment,” he reinforced.

Another sector in which he sees the Chinese community continuing to invest in the future, as already happens today, is “in the real estate business, buying old buildings to renovate and sell later. It is a “different real estate” business than before, even to compensate for the end of gold visas and that leaves an added value to Portugal, argued Choi Hin, noting that Portugal already “has many [Chinese] companies in this sector” working.

For the former head of Estoril Sol, the life of the Chinese community in Portugal today is “better than before” and is more integrated into Portuguese society.

“Especially the second and third generations have finished their studies, from high school to university, in Portugal,” he indicated. In addition, there are already many lawyers and people from the community who are connected to the governments of the City Halls, because they have also connected to parties, he added.

For these and other reasons, the president of ACILC believes that the Chinese community in Portugal, which today is already the 10th largest in the country, will continue to grow.

“I believe in destiny,” he said, and often the place one chooses to live, in the opinion of the former manager of Estoril Sol, has to do with the future of the family, the children, some who want to study in Europe.

Besides, reminded Choi Hin, the Chinese “are not just workers, he has a very intelligent thing, head to do business”.

The obstacle, for the Chinese community in Portugal is the language, but “everyone tries to learn Portuguese to improve their way of living here and integrating into society.”

“I think the [Chinese] central government also promotes this kind of trend for [state-controlled] companies to leave the country to look for business opportunities outside. Many of them were previously state-owned, but now some of them also have a lot of private individuals.”

And since “Portugal is not easy for a normal business”, the association which Choi presides over and other entities will gather in a Lisbon hotel, people with common interests, to do senior residencies, or international schools, for example, so that there are new business opportunities, during the visit of Macau’s chief executive to Portugal next week.

In addition, the Luso-Chinese Merchants and Industrialists Association will sign a memorandum with the Macau Chamber to enable collaboration between the two entities.

The association which Choi Hin presides has 200 associates, all businessmen.

Source: Dinheiro Vivo