Institutional Presentation

INSTITUTIONAL PRESENTATION

The President Nuno Botelho welcomes you.

As President of Associação Comercial do Porto, it is a pleasure to welcome all those who visit us.

With this portal we seek to give you an idea of an instuition that already counts 190 years of existence, without ever abandoning the purpose of its creation: to be a meeting point and a reflexion centre with the intention of promoting the progress and the illustration of the city of Porto and the Northern Region. This has been the motto of Associação Comercial do Porto throughout its existence and it is certainly the guiding line that will lead us in the future

President

Nuno Luís Cameira de Sousa Botelho

Vice-President

Álvaro Fernando de Oliveira Costa

1st Secretary

Filipe Carlos Ferreira Avides Moreira

2nd Secretary

Gonçalo Gonçalves de Araújo Moreira

Board of Directors

António Baére de Faria Ricca Gonçalves

António Manuel Barbot Campos e Matos

António Ricardo Oliveira Fonseca

Gonçalo Cristóvão Aranha da Gama Lobo Xavier

Jorge Francisco Oliveira Maia Queiroz Machado

Jorge Miguel Barreira de Macedo

José Manuel Cardoso Fortunato

Maria do Rosário Gambôa Lopes de Carvalho

Miguel Leichsenring Franco

Nuno Filipe Andrade Silva Delgado Lameiras

Vasco Costa Brandão de Moura Ramos

180 years of dynamism

Founded in 1834, in the aftermath of the liberal movements, Associação Comercial do Porto was born with the intention and the mission to promote the prosperity and the illustration of the Region of Porto and the North, defending particularly the interests of its business community.

Being inheritor of the Stock Exchange of the 13th Century and of the Juntina, the congregation that in the end of the 18th century brought together the most renowned and prosperous traders of Porto, Associação Comercial do Porto is today the most ancient business Association in the country.

Based upon the principles of free enterprise, free trade and the primacy of the individual, values that have always beaten strong in the hearts of the Porto inhabitants, it plays for more than 180 years the duties of Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a statue officially recognized on the 8th of February of 1982 by the Portuguese government.

To rebuild the existence of this Association is therefore equivalent to remember part of Porto’s history and the contemporaneous economical Portuguese life, given the intimate connection between one another, throughout the events and the Men who lived and influenced it.

By keeping faithful to the spirit that guided its creation, it has fulfilled throughout the years a valorous cultural role by opening Palácio da Bolsa – its headquarters and property – to the community. Innumerous initiatives such as conferences, seminars, art biennials, book presentations, and music festivals, amongst others, join the vibrant growing cultural attractions that Porto offers today to those who live here or simply came to visit.

Ephemerides and notable characters have been recurrently remembered and honoured at Palácio da Bolsa so that the historical, the literary and cultural values, that have always moulded the life of this city, endure. With the same purpose, Associação Comercial do Porto edits for more than one hundred years the magazine O Tripeiro, a true repository of past and present memories of the city of Porto and its inhabitants.

Over the years, Associação Comercial do Porto has been linked to projects of undeniable value for the development of the city of Porto and the North Region:

 

–        The draft of the first Portuguese commercial code;

–        The construction of the Palácio a Bolsa, which it owns;

–        The creation of the Center for Economic and Financial Studies, which gave rise to the Faculty of Economics of Porto;

–        The creation of the Porto Stock Exchange;

–        The creation of the first two Portuguese banks (Banco Mercantil Portuense and Banco União) and the first Portuguese insurance company (Companhia de Seguros Segurança).

 

Associação Comercial do Porto was also the driving force behind the construction of the first phase of the Port of Leixões and, more recently, the Association for the Museum of Transport and Communications.
It was also involved in the creation of the “Porto – Norte de Portugal” tourist destination and the first Specialized Competence Office in Oporto.

 

Active voice in Portuguese society, Associação Comercial do Porto has taken important public positions, in the defense of the interests of the region, on various dossiers (see Public Positions)

A REGIÃO DO PORTO

FISCALIDADE

INFRASTUTURAS RODOVIÁRIAS

NAVEGABILIDADE NO DOURO

OUTROS TEXTOS E INTERVENÇÕES

  • RTP – Maio 2002

PORTOS E AEROPORTOS

REFORMA DA ADMINISTRAÇÃO PÚBLICA

TGV

TURISMO