It was almost a spring day in Évora on that 17th of November 2007. The semi-annual meeting of Vortal’s Advisory Board was being held at the Convento do Espinheiro, Heritage Hotel and Spa. This company, formed by twenty of the largest Portuguese construction firms, one of the country’s major banks, and Portugal Telecom, the incumbent communications operator, had launched Econstroi in 2000—an e-commerce platform—investing a total of approximately 7.5 million euros.
Rui Dias Ferreira, the Executive Chairman of the Board, presented the company’s growth prospects and spoke with satisfaction about the 1st Public Procurement Congress. The event had taken place at the Estoril Congress Center on September 25th, bringing together nearly a thousand participants, and Vortal had played a significant role…
