MEASURE FACT SHEET

Supports investment projects designed to reinforce productivity and competitiveness of enterprises and their partaking in the global market; the projects shall include tangible and intangible investment in the following functional areas of investment: investment essential to the activity and investment in dynamic factors of competitiveness (internationalisation; energy efficiency; certification of quality, environmental safety and management; qualification of human resources).

Goals 

• To promote integrated investment approaches among enterprises, as part of the strategy for development and competitiveness reinforcement of the corresponding sector;
• To stimulate an intervention on non-directly productive strategic factors, namely in areas such as internationalisation, quality and environment, energy and human resources qualification.

Beneficiaries

Enterprises.

Activity Sectors

Industry, Building Industry, Commerce, Tourism, Services and Transport in the following EAC:

Activity Sectors	Eligible EAC
Industry	10 to 37 (except for investment supported by EAGGF – European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund - under the terms of the Protocol with AGRO Programme)
Building Industry	45
Commerce(*)	50 to 52 (except 5231)
Tourism	551, 552, 553, 554, 633, 711, 9232, 9233, 9234, 9261, 9262, 9272, 93041 and 93042
Services	72, 73, 7420, 7430, 9211, 01410, 02012 and 02020
Transport	602, 622, 631, 632 and 634

(*) - SMEs or legal entities exclusively integrating SMEs.

Investments subject to restrictions under the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and investments supported by EAGGF  under the terms of the Protocol with the AGRO Programme are excluded.

On the basis of proposals presented by the Executive Director, the Minister for Economic Affairs and Innovation may consider support to projects in other activity sectors, depending on the strategic dimension of those projects and on the explanatory statement submitted.

Type of Projects

Support applies to investment projects that, according to a strategic analysis of the enterprises, include all the tangible and intangible investments identified as necessary and broken down by the following functional areas:

1. Investments essential to activity’s development;

2. Investments in dynamic factors of competitiveness;

• Internationalisation;
• Energy efficiency; 
• Quality certification, safety and environmental management; 
• Qualification of human resources.

The projects may match the following types:

• Projects including investments essential to activity’s development;
• Projects previewing investments in more than one area of dynamic factors of competitiveness;
• Projects involving investments essential to activity’s development and investments in dynamic factors of competitiveness;
• Projects with investments in one of the following areas: internationalisation, energy efficiency or quality certification, and environmental safety and management.  

Eligibility Requirements

For the Promoter:

• To be legally established;
• To satisfy the legal conditions required to carry out its activity;
• To have fulfilled all obligations related to taxes and social security, and towards the incentive paying agencies;
• To have an organised accounting system, according to the National Accounting System (NAP);
• To assume the commitment of allocating the investment co-financed by SIME to the relevant activity, as well as to maintain the geographical location established in the project for a minimum period to be defined in the incentive granting contract – this period shall not be less than five years, starting from the date of the investment conclusion;
• To have a balanced economic and financial situation;
• To have the technical and management capabilities required to implement the investment;
• Whenever there were previous applications to SIME, the latest supported application (within SIME) shall have been submitted at least one year before;
• To fulfil all the regulations governing ESF (European Social Fund) support, whenever there are investments in vocational training.

For the Project:

• As for architectural plans or investment specifications, whenever legally required these shall be previously approved;
• To have been declared "of tourism interest", when applicable;
• To fulfil all the legal requirements related to the development of the corresponding activity;
• To represent a minimum eligible investment of 150 000 euro or 600 000 euro, respectively for SMEs and non SMEs, except for projects involving only intangible investments, for which the minimum eligible investment shall be 50 000 euro or 200 000 euro, respectively for SMEs and non SMEs;
• To have a maximum life span of two years, beginning on the investment start-up date, except in duly justified cases;
• To contribute to the economic and financial improvement or to the competitiveness of the promoting enterprise;
• Not to include expenses made before the application date, except for advances related to down-payments up to 50% of the cost of each purchase, and for studies carried out less than one year before, or less than two years before in duly justified cases;
• To prove to have guaranteed the project's financing sources;
• To be adequately financed by own capital;
• Whenever it includes vocational training activities, to demonstrate that the training plan is consistent and coherent with the project's objectives and fulfils the rules governing ESF support;
• To be based on a strategic analysis of the enterprise, identifying the critical competitiveness areas for the trade it develops, evaluating the enterprise situation in these critical areas and upholds the investment options considered in the application;
• For projects within the coal, steel, synthetic fibres, automobile, shipbuilding and transport sectors, to comply with the corresponding Community state aid rules; whenever required, these projects should receive a previous favourable opinion from the European Commission;
• For large investment projects, as defined in the "multi-sectoral framework for regional aid", to comply with the procedures established in this framework and namely those related to the notification requirement;
• To observe, as long as it shall be in force, the Multi-sectoral Framework instituted by the Communication no. 2002/C70/04 from the Commission, establishing that investments in the synthetic fibres sector shall not receive support from PRIME; nevertheless, such investments may benefit from other supports.

Eligible Expenses

Investments essential to activity’s development:

• Land-property for exploiting geological resources;
• Construction of buildings within the scope of Tourism projects, provided that these are directly related to activity development and essential management activities, or projects developed by enterprises already located or to be located in business location areas; 
• Other construction within the scope of tourism projects, provided that these are directly related to activity development or intended to improve the safety and health conditions, as well as projects developed by enterprises already located or to be located in business location areas;Construction of buildings or other works, within the scope of Tourism projects or projects developed by enterprises already located or to be located in business location areas;
• Purchasing of mandatory social equipments;
• Purchasing of machinery and equipment, namely for the areas of management, production, sales and marketing, communications, logistics, design, quality, health and safety, laboratory control, efficiency and environmental protection;
• Purchasing/registering of patents and licences;
• The over-costs of the purchasing of motor vehicles equipped with devices reducing pollutant emissions of gases and particles, in the part corresponding to the additional costs of those devices and their installation;
• Expenses related to transport, insurance, assembling and disassembling of eligible equipment;
• Purchasing/registering of patents and licences;
• Technical assistance.

Investments in dynamic factors of competitiveness:

• Internationalisation:
  • Access to knowledge required for project implementation, namely the contracting of market studies and internationalisation strategy studies;
  • Actions related to external markets survey and presence in those same markets, including market assessment missions, participation in international tenders and opening of representation offices;
  • International actions in the area of advertising and marketing, namely: participation in international exhibitions; production and distribution of information and advertising materials; actions directed to adjusting products and services to new markets; implementation of international marketing programmes, including launching of trademarks and product lines, missions and visits to Portugal for information on the existing offer;
  • Purchasing/registering of trademarks and permits;
  • Purchasing/registering of patents and licences;
  • Financial effort developed by the promoter and directly related to productive investment projects aimed at companies located within the European Union, namely interest and assets purchasing; exceptionally, in duly justified cases, projects concerning companies located outside the EU may be taken into account.
• Energy efficiency:
  • Purchasing and installation of energy efficiency materials and equipment, and of control, measuring and analysis equipment for energy management;
  • Installation of heating and/or cooling systems, using renewable energy sources;
  • Installation of systems for combined production and distribution of heat and/or cooling and energy power (cogeneration), including small, natural gas operated systems;
  • Conversion of facilities related to the project;
  • Intangible investments in the area of energy efficiency, namely technical assistance, energy audits and tests.
• Quality certification, safety and environmental management:
  • Preparation of the certification, qualification or registering process and additional expenses;
  • Audits, verifications and site inspections;
  • Technical assistance and consultancy services;
  • Laboratory tests of products and raw materials, calibration tests, monitoring of emissions and wastes tests, as well as laboratory tests for product certification and approval;
  • Transport of the products to be tested and/or equipment to be calibrated, and related expenses;
  • Expenses related to obtaining and maintaining the eco-label;
  • Purchasing of technical bibliography;
  • National or international dissemination activities on how to obtain certification, qualification, register, or concerning awards;
  • Applications to national or international total quality awards;
  • Equipment for inspection, measuring and testing essential to the project in the area of quality certification, safety and environmental management;
  • Specific software essential to the project.
• Qualification of human resources:
  • Expenses defined under a specific regulation, in accordance to the ESF (European Social Fund) framework rules.
• Intangible assets:
  • Studies, diagnosis, audits, architectural an engineering plans related to the investment project; 
  • Expenses resulting from the intervention of certified public accountants, related to asserting the financial implementation of the projects;
  • Expenses related to the development of trademarks.

Non-Eligible Expenses

• Land-property purchasing (except those mentioned in the above section);
• Purchasing of buildings (except, and exceptionally, the purchase of vacant or unfinished buildings, namely as a result of bankruptcy or re-structuring processes);
• Construction of buildings or other facilities (except for the ones mentioned in the above section);
• Subletting rights and space using rights;
• Purchasing of furniture and other equipment non-directly related to the activity's essential functions;
• Purchasing of motor vehicles and other transport equipment (except land transport equipment, provided that it constitutes, in itself, a tourist recreation venture);
• Aircrafts and other aeronautic equipment;
• Purchasing of second-hand goods;
• National direct investment abroad, when aimed at the acquisition or start-up of companies linked to the establishment or operation of marketing networks abroad;
• Interests during construction;
• Working capital;
• Commissions from the enterprise carried out by the enterprise itself;
• Publicity;
• Cost of bank guarantees. 

Bodies in Charge 

Coordinating Bodies

API – Portuguese Investment Agency (for projects with an investment amount higher than 25 million euro, or whenever the enterprise or the group it belongs to has an annual consolidated turnover higher than 75 million euro)

ITP – Portuguese Tourism Board (for all other tourism investment projects)

IAPMEI – Institute for Support to Small and Medium-Size Enterprises and Investment (for all other projects)

Specialized Bodies

ICEP – Portugal – Investment, Trade and Tourism (for the operational area "internationalization investments")

DGGE – Directorate General for Geology and Energy (for the operational area "investment in energy efficiency)

IPQ – Portuguese Institute for Quality (for the operational area "investment in certification, safety and environmental management)

Geographical Area 

Mainland Portugal and the Autonomous Regions.

  This information does not dispense with consulting the legislation.

Updated on September 2006.