Portugal 2000

Vasco da Gama shopping center in the Park of Nations, Lisbon

E-Business Drive

In response to the collapse of the deal, BES launched a surge into the new economy as soon as the failure of the planned merger became apparent. Ricardo EspÌrito Santo Salgado, BES chairman, immediately announced BES.com, a holding company for new technology ventures, to lead the groupís drive into e-business services. Under an agreement with Bankinter, BES is to set up an Internet bank modeled on the Spanish groupís ìWorksite Bankingî service. The Spanish operation, launched in 1993, currently has 75,000 clients in 320 participating businesses.

ìIt was better to call off the deal while there was still time rather than go ahead with a merger that would have come apart later,î said EspÌrito Santo Salgado. ìSize is not everything. Increasing the number of branches is no longer necessarily the best way to increase a bankís profitability.î

A total of 15 e-business operations that are being jointly set up by BES, Portugal Telecom and state-owned Caixa Geral de DepÙsitos include on-line share and insurance brokerages, a real estate business and a financial Internet portal for asset management as well as business-to-consumer and business-to-business services.

Portugal Telecom Building

BCP and CGD, Portugalís two biggest banking groups, are examining the benefits of sharing back office operations and technological platforms in Portugal, while maintaining competition between their separate brands and corporate identities. They are also considering cooperating in Spain.

In the tradition of Portuguese navigators like Pedro ¡lvares Cabral, who in 1500 became the first European to sail to Brazil, Portuguese companies have also been expanding strongly abroad. Over the last four years, Portuguese companies have invested more than $3 billion in Brazil, making Portugal the fourth largest EU investor there.

ìPortuguese businesses are keenly aware that to compete in a global economy you need to build global companies,î says a Lisbon official. ìTheir strong expansion overseas is an indication of the high levels of competitiveness, management expertise and productivity they have achieved.î

Web Sites to Watch