People in Lisbon

~Business with a senseof adventure

n 1961 Peter Sieger hitch-hiked through Europe andgot stuck ín Lisbon, car-

rying nothing but his backpack. Hisfirst suit was a gift from Dr. MárioMosqueira do Amaral (still a closefriend today) which enabled him tostart an apprenticeship at the BancoEspírito Santo e Comercial de Lisboa.

A city of nostalgiaLisbon, easily the most nostalgic .,capital of Eurape at that time, waslost ín a daydream about its gloriouspast. Political discussions centered onPortugal' s determination never togive up its overseas "provinces",against mounting external pressure,particularly from the U.S. In the sameyear the Portuguese "State of India"was occupied by the Indian army, andSalazar sent 30,000 troops to Angolato protect it from "chaos and com-munism" sweeping the neighbouringCongo.

The 22 year old apprentice from aprivate bank in Hamburg carne froma family with a strong sense of tradi-tion and appreciation for the charrnof the pre-indusrrial era, both ofwhich abounded in Lisbon. (Yearslater, when he could afford it, Sieger,an officer in the German naval re-serve, became a passionate collectorof antique nautical instruments, an-cient maps and books.) But Siegersensed the wind of change engulfingPortugal, and his mercurial tempera-ment was hungry for success.

A partnership for successHe found the partner for his grandideas in Dieter Kleinschmidt whowas stranded in the bay of Cascais in1962 while transferring a sailing boatto Portugal. The two men comple-mented each other, and the note ofadventure on which they met carriedover into their business dealings.

Peter Sieger

While Sieger was driven by his imagi-nation and vision, Kleinschmidt wassceptical, inquisitiee, detail-oriented andpractical. Several years passed beforethey joined forces: Kleinschmidt re-turned to Germany to finish his archi-teeture studies and Sieger earned hisIivingby teachingGermanin the eveningswhile working at the Espírito Santo bankin' the daytime. Meanwhile, they built anetwork of contacts in both countries,whichprovedan assetwhen,in 1967,theyfounded their company Finurba.

A wide portfolioFew companies in Portugal' s propertydevelopment sector can compare withFinurba in the variety of services of-fered: investment consulting, projectplanning and financing, architecture,engineering and construction super-vision. Their reference list includesindustrial complexes, office buildings,churches, schools, five-star hotels,tourist developments, shopping centres,golf courses and private residences."Flexibility is our basis. When othersdon't know how to go on, we createan unconventional concept and lookfor the right constellation and match-ing partners" explains Kleinschmidt.

With this motto they expanded into theMiddle East and Portuguese-speaking

lHE PORTUGUESE REVIEW I Dec'93

Africa. Though business opportunitieswere lost when the colonies finallygained independence, contacts andfriendships remained. At presentFinurba is planning a resort on theisland of São Torné in the Gulf ofGuinea and a 90 ha industrial park inPaimeia, near to Setúbal.

For the victims of an earthquakecatastrophy in AIgeria they developed"portable" houses assembled fromcomponents made of polyurethanfoam sandwiched between a steelframework. In lhe years after the revo-lution, when Portugal was shunned byinvestors, this praduct, which wasexported to Venezuela, Brazil, Saudi-Arabia and the Sudan, made Finurbaknown internationally.

Future prospectsBoth partners have a strong socialcommitment. Kleinschmidt has beenactive for the German School in Lis-bon and Sieger for the SOS Children'sVillages organization. He has helpedto build up children' s villages in the

J Carribean, South América and Spainfor many years. At present he is assist-ing in the organisation of an SOS Chil-dren's VilIage in Sta. Cruz de Tenerife.

Besides their holdings of Lisbon of-fice buildings, villas and 1eisureprop-erties, Sieger and Kleinschmidt re-cently founded Arqueonautas S.A., acompany specialised in raising shipssunk off the Portuguese coast betweenthe 16th and 19th centuries. On Sep-

.tember 30th, they sold Finurba toCaspen Oil, a company listed on theAmerican stock exchange, which hasrecently bought into the Europeanproperty and energy markets. Theyboth remain directors of Finurba, andit will be interesting to see the resultsofthis marriage q,etween an individu-alistic European enterprise and anAmerican oi! corporatíon O

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