Doing Business in Portugal

Yesterday's May 17 lunch was another great success here in Porto. The company was excellent. Everybody in high spirits.

All sorts of things were talked about and mentioned. Those still obsessing about the plague talked mainly about that, of course. But most of us were not, and we did our best to keep the subject from dominating the conversation. We nodded earnestly, always agreeing with the fearful, and assuring them that we cannot wait getting vaccinated ourselves. With no opposition, the plague-conversation quickly died down.

Far more interesting was the Norwegian consul who joined us, and ended up paying the bill for our lunch. He's a big-shot in the cork business, and I was immediately curious to learn some basics about that business, so I fired off a few questions related to investment opportunities. He told me that now is not the best time to invest in land, but he gave me his business card and promised to send information and pamphlets on my request.

Making this all the more interesting is the fact that my wife and I know a couple who own a small farm in the Portuguese outback. They have cork trees, and are looking to expand. They would love to combine remote working from their farm with tending their forest and having a vegetable plot and possibly some chickens and the like. What they need is some capital to invest in additional forest, and that's where I see a possible role for myself.

A whole bunch of loose ends are suddenly converging into something that may be an investment opportunity. There might be a way to combine the business interest of the consul, with the personal interests of our friends and the capital I have at disposal. What remains to be done is for me to learn more about the business, and for the right opportunity to come along for me to buy forest, preferably in the region where our friends have their farm.

I don't see myself spending a lot of time tending the land. Rather, I'm thinking of the sort of arrangement that Richard Cantillon wrote about in his book. I'll own the land and lease it out to our friends in a fair deal. My wife and I will remain in our apartment in Porto and only visit our forest on special occasions.

Celebrating May 17