Paulo Portas

Mr. Portas served as Portugal Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister, responsible for economic coordination, investment and exports between 2011 and end of 2015. Mr. Portas was elected to the Government some months after the bailout of Portugal. He was in charge of the relations with “Troika” and the fulfil of the Memorandum. At the same time, he was a key player building the successful competitiveness case of Portugal. He chaired the Portuguese delegation to more than 40 Joint Bilateral Economic Committees and leaded around 80 official and business missions to attract investment and promote exports. He served also as Minister of Defense (2002-2005). He was leader of the moderate CDS-PP for 16 years, eight of them while in government. He was MP for eight terms. Also member of State Council and National Security and Defense Council. Mr. Portas is graduated in Law by Catholic University of Lisbon and taught History of Political Thought. He is a professor in "Geo-Economics and International Relations" in the Management Master of Nova School of Business & Economics (Nova de Portugal University. He is also a guest professor at the Diplomatic Academy of the Emirates, in charge of teaching Diplomacy and International Relations to diplomats. He directs Geo Economics and International Relations seminars for directors and advisors of multinational companies. In 2016 he withdraw from party politics and he is back to private sector. He is the author of the leading international politics program (Global) in the Portuguese TV and a frequent speaker in international forums and conferences. He received the highest decorations and awards for foreign personalities of countries like USA, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Spain, Poland, Romania among others. He is fluent in Portuguese, English, Spanish, French and Italian.