Braga is the third largest city in Portugal－after Lisbon and Porto－making it a key commercial center of Portugal. The major industries in the city are construction, metallurgy and mechanics, software development, and web design. Information technology is a rapidly growing industry in Braga and this is where Ambassador Lhuillier believes the city and the Philippines can pursue mutually beneficial business opportunities.

In addition to the thriving technology sector in Braga, the city is also host to the Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, a fully international research organization in Europe state-of the art research environment promoting an interdisciplinarity effort in addressing the major challenges in the emerging areas of Nanobiotechnology, Nanoelectronics, Nanomedicine, and Materials Science at Nanoscale.

Ambassador Lhuillier also visited the University of Minho, also in Braga. Lhuillier was given a tour of the institution, and discussed the possibility of developing ties with Philippine universities and academic institutions.

"I was particularly interested with the Univesity's e-learning program, which focuses on specialized, short courses that can be credited in the European educational system. These e-learning programs can be modified to suit the needs of an institution or agency. These programs will be very useful in the Philippines, allowing the government to easily provide quality education to more Filipinos," said Lhuillier.

Earlier this year, Ambassador Lhuillier visited the cities of Coimbra in central Portugal, Funchal in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, and Porto.