From September 27 to October 1, OVIA Vice-President and Chairman of the ISQ Board of Directors, Pedro Matias, joined the Portuguese delegation visiting Saudi Arabia as part of a business mission aimed at bringing the two business communities closer together and exploring opportunities for cooperation and investment.
Over several days, the delegation followed an intensive agenda that included meetings with senior representatives of Saudi public and private institutions, including the General Authority for Foreign Trade, the Ministry of Investment, the Ministry of Economy and Planning, and Monsha’at – the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority, as well as meetings with companies and organizations involved in strategic development projects across the country. The agenda also included engagements with the Saudi private sector and participation in the Saudi-Portuguese Business Forum.
The mission also had an important institutional dimension, with high-level meetings in the Diriyah and Aseer regions, visits to major development projects, and the signing of memoranda of understanding between Portuguese and Saudi institutions.
For ISQ, the participation of its Chairman represents an opportunity to further strengthen the Institute’s international presence in a market undergoing profound economic and technological transformation. Saudi Arabia is developing large-scale projects in areas where technical expertise, engineering, certification, quality, sustainability, and innovation are becoming increasingly important.
This engagement also builds on an established relationship. ISQ maintains a cooperation relationship with the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), particularly in the field of desalination and water reuse, and has developed knowledge-sharing initiatives with Saudi researchers.
As OVIA Vice-President, Pedro Matias’ participation also brought to this international forum the experience of one of Portugal’s leading ecosystems in technology, engineering, and innovation, while strengthening OVIA’s ability to build bridges between companies, institutions, and international markets.
The mission comes at a particularly relevant time for strengthening ties between Oeiras and Saudi Arabia. In August, OVIA and the Federation of Saudi Chambers signed a cooperation agreement aimed at strengthening collaboration in investment promotion and creating new opportunities for businesses.
This is precisely where economic diplomacy becomes tangible: building relationships, understanding needs, identifying opportunities, and, above all, turning institutional ties into projects and business opportunities.
Pedro Matias’ participation therefore contributed to strengthening the internationalization of ISQ, the global profile of Oeiras Valley, and closer ties between the Portuguese and Saudi business ecosystems, three dimensions that come together around a shared ambition: opening new markets for Portuguese companies while bringing new investment and cooperation opportunities to Oeiras.
