India and Portugal should collaborate to strengthen ties in areas of defence and start-ups: Naidu

New Delhi, Oct 20 (KNN) India and Portugal should collaborate in new areas of cutting-edge technology to strengthen ties in areas of defence, space, infrastructure and start-ups, said M. Venkaiah Naidu, Vice President of India.

Naidu, who is in Brussels to attend the ASEM Summit, had a bilateral meeting with Portugal’s Prime Minister Antonio Costa at the EU headquarters.

In a bilateral meeting, Naidu said defence, space, infrastructure and start-ups are areas that offer potential business opportunities.

Thanking Portugal for reiterating its support for India’s permanent membership of the UN Security Council, Naidu said “India’s inclusion in the UNSC will bolster the credibility and effectiveness of the United Nations.”

While Prime Minister Costa said that India-Portugal bilateral trade is on the rise and that Portuguese companies are encouraged by the potential of the Indian market.

He mentioned that Vision-Box, a Portuguese technology company had recently secured a contract from Bengaluru International Airport to facilitate seamless and paperless air travel using facial recognition biometric technologies.

He also mentioned that Portugal had recently signed a MoU with Goa for a pilot project for water supply and waste water management as part of the Panaji Smart City initiative.

During the meeting, two countries agreed to further strengthen the bilateral ties through greater economic and people to people exchanges.