The municipalities of Coimbra, Mealhada and Cantanhede are working together to prepare a proposal for the creation of a Large Business Reception Area of national dimension. This initiative comes within the framework of a challenge launched by the Government for the creation of large business areas capable of accommodating new industrial projects and investment. The proposal will be presented within the scope of CIM Região de Coimbra, seeking to position this initiative as a project of supramunicipal and regional interest.
The president of Coimbra City Hall, Ana Abrunhosa, announced that an application will be submitted to PTRR - Portugal Transformation, Recovery and Resilience to advance this objective. António Jorge Franco, president of the Municipality of Mealhada, emphasized that this is an excellent opportunity to gain dimension and scale and meet the demands of a new generation of industry in Central Portugal.
The proposal aims to position the territory as an industrial, logistics and railway corridor, combining business reception areas, rail, road transport, energy, logistics and connections to the main ports of the Centro Region. The location benefits from proximity to important transport infrastructures, namely the A1, IP3 and IC2, as well as railway connections through the Linha do Norte and the Linha da Beira Alta, with particular relevance for the Pampilhosa railway hub.
Another differentiating element of the proposal is the connection with the Ports of Aveiro and Figueira da Foz, reinforcing the link between companies that may establish themselves in this territory and national and international logistics chains. The three municipalities are consolidating the technical information necessary to define the intervention area, infrastructuring conditions, energy capacity, accessibility, land supply and business demand potential.