[INTERVIEW] From renewable energy to lithium reserves, Portugal offers opportunities for Korea: PM

Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, left, shakes hands with his Korean counterpart Han Duck-soo during their meeting at the government complex in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa visited Seoul, Tuesday, the first such visit by a Portuguese head of government in 23 years, bringing a wealth of opportunities for Korea to establish partnerships with the southern European country.

Costa's two-day visit includes a series of meetings in the fields of renewable energy, semiconductors, the automotive industry, green hydrogen and lithium and batteries, highlighting the numerous areas of interest for Korean companies in Portugal.

"This visit will have an important focus on fostering our economic cooperation. The instability that we are facing at a global level showed us that we need to reinforce and reorganize our value chains. We believe that Korean and Portuguese expertise and experience can complement and strengthen each other," Costa said during a written interview with The Korea Times.

Costa emphasized that Portugal has more to offer than just access to the European market of 500 million people as the country also enjoys a strong relationship with the global Portuguese-speaking community. He also highlighted the country's strategic geographical position as the nearest European country to North and South America and most of Africa with an advantage of direct submarine cable connections to all continents.

Portugal has the largest lithium reserves in Europe and the eighth-largest in the world with over 60,000 tons of reserves. It poses a great potential to collaborate with Korea as the mineral is a key component for electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

"We are the world's seventh-largest producer of lithium and the first in Europe. In 2023, we will launch six public tenures for lithium prospecting and exploration and we want to foster the development of integrated value chains for critical raw materials," Costa said.

"There is also the automotive industry, where Korean firms can take advantage of our strong automotive cluster and expertise in innovation, green urban mobility and self-driving cars."

Portugal's expertise and know-how in renewable energy presents an opportunity for economic cooperation with Korea, particularly in the area of green hydrogen.

"There are Portuguese investments in Korea and Korean investments in Portugal. We have an ambitious strategy that is a great opportunity. We plan to invest 60 billion euros by 2030. We intend to significantly increase our solar energy capacity: over 9 GW incorporation by 2030 and we have plans to install 10 GW capacity for offshore wind energy, the auction for which will be launched still this year ― with a lot of international interest," Costa said.

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"Green hydrogen also has a lot of potential. Proximity to water and attractive energy costs are strategic assets that are drawing the attention of multiple investors, seeking to produce hydrogen from solar and wind power, particularly in Sines."

Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa delivers a speech during the Korean-Portuguese Business Forum at Four Seasons Hotel Seoul, Wednesday. Costa met with major Korean companies including Hanhwa, Samsung, SK, Hyundai and Lotte during his two-day visit to Korea. Yonhap

Another area that could bring the two countries closer is tourism, with Portugal increasingly becoming a destination of interest to Korean tourists.

"There is a strong and growing interest from Korean tourists in Portugal. Unfortunately, the pandemic had a very negative effect on tourist flows from Korea to Portugal and we still haven't recovered to the levels we had before the pandemic," the prime minister said.

Amid clear signs of recovery, he believes that the number of Korean tourists will soon reach pre-pandemic levels as has already happened with the global tourist flow to Portugal.

"To further strengthen this trend, I believe that direct flights between Seoul and Lisbon would be a game changer," he said.

As an experienced politician who has been leading the Portuguese government for eight years, Costa also noted the significance of political relations.

"It will also be important to strengthen our political relations. In the challenging times we are living, it is important to be able to count on partners such as South Korea," he said.

Portugal suspended its diplomatic ties with North Korea in July 2017, joining several countries doing so in response to global pressure against the country's nuclear and missile activities.

"Permanent peace and security in the Korean Peninsula are vital not only for the regional stability but globally," Costa said, condemning the development of North Korea's nuclear and ballistic program.

"The escalation resulting from the number of launches already carried out this year is deeply worrying. DPRK has to cease its illegal activities and to abide by its international obligations under U.N. Security Council Resolutions. North Korea's actions demand a united response by the international community. That is why we support the full implementation of the U.N. Security Council resolutions and sanctions on DPRK by all states."

DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the official name of North Korea.

The Portuguese prime minister also showed support for Busan's bid to host the World Expo 2030.

"I believe Korea presented very strong bid to host Expo 2030 and a very interesting concept for the Exhibition," he said.

"We highly value this kind of Expo, having organized ourselves Expo 98 in Lisbon. It had an extraordinary impact not only in the city, but all over the country. It left a very strong and positive mark in our collective memory."