Investors from the Middle East are in the sights of Portugal’s real estate promoters and developers. After the interest shown by Chinese buyers in the Golden Visa scheme, property entrepreneurs are now looking to roll out the promotion in other wealthy countries.
A roadshow is set to roll out across the Middle East in January next year. PSO Strategic Consulting is preparing a package of about 50 properties, "mostly houses and apartments but also hotels and farms in Lisbon, the Alentejo and the Algarve."
Dates are set for Dubai and Abu Dhabi, with other destinations such as Doha and Qatar at the planning stage.
Some Chinese investors have bought in Portugal, not to live here but to enable family access to Europe without the need for visas and other documentation. Many have quizzed selling agents on potential rental returns from their proposed purchases and have no intention of living in Portugal, but if they do they are no obliged to pay tax on foreign-earned income and they have the right to unrestricted travel within the Schengen zone.
Many Chinese families have appeared keen to access Europe’s university systems, especially in the UK, and the facility to travel freely within Europe seems sufficient inducement for the vanguard of well-heeled foreigners.
