Portugal’s government has approved the expansion of the ro-ro terminal at the port of Setúbal, which will require an investment of around €3.5m ($4.8m).
"It's an investment to be made exclusively using the Port Administration of Setúbal and Sesimbra's (APSS) own funds,” said Sérgio Monteiro, Portugal's secretary of state for Transport. “The [port authority], has been allowed to retain some of its own profit to make this investment."
Monteiro pointed out that the investment is being made to meet the needs of Volkswagen’s Autoeuropa car factory in Palmela, which he described as playing a major role in both the local and national economy. Volkswagen signed an investment contract in October with the Portuguese state worth €38.2m for development at the Autoeuropa plant. The plant makes the Volkswagen Eos, Scirocco, Sharan and Seat Alhambra, and produced 112,550 vehicles last year.
