The City of Lisbon, in the framework of DELI (Diversity in the Economy and Local Integration) project, carried out a study on diversity in the economy and local integration. The study aims to support the analysis and strategies concerning the role and development of immigrant entrepreneurialism in Lisbon. The main objectives are the follwoing:

• provide some basic socio‐economic features about the foreign population of the city,
• present a basic and specific picture of immigrant entrepreneurial activities, mostly of micro and small size, based in the data gathered through a series of in‐depth interviews applied to relevant stakeholders (immigrant associations, leaders of business organizations and some leaders of sectors related to municipal economic activities) in addition to 62 questionnaires applied face‐to‐face to immigrant entrepreneurs established in the city of Lisbon.

According to the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF), in 2014 50 047 citizens with foreign nationality lived in the municipality of Lisbon–, mostly coming from non‐EU countries. The central area of Lisbon emerges as a social gateway to the city being widely recognized and valued by the presence of ethnic and cultural diversity.

Immigrant entrepreneurship in Lisbon has been quite robust and stronger than in the rest of the country. Becoming an entrepreneur seems to be:

• a strategy to face unemployment or a choice to increase revenue and
• part of a planned path, sometimes the main reason why they have emigrated from their native country.

The contribution of immigrants to the dynamics of Lisbon economy is meaningful, not only in the city centre and in inner city but also in several residential areas scattered throughout Lisbon. The opening of a diverse set of business creates new jobs, promotes interculturality, as well as the Lisbon cosmopolitanism.

Having into consideration the characteristics described and the hindrances that have been identified, a few recommendations may be presented:

a) The creation of a system to gather and treat data related with economic activities in Lisbon. To support the analysis of immigrant entrepreneurs, that data should include information about the “geographical origin of the owners”. In addition, a monitoring system of the Lisbon economic activities that could use the aforementioned databases should be set into place;

b) In order to overcome the language barriers, the legal documents regarding the opening and management of businesses should be bilingual (Portuguese and English).

c) It should be discussed how it could be possible to introduce some limited positive discriminatory measures (considering that immigrants are a vulnerable group) in the processes of specific public contracting of services (e.g. food supply, particularly if non‐Portuguese products and dishes are concerned), namely the ones performed by the City Council. Note that these measures are circumstantial and transitory and should be removed when the specific disadvantages of immigrants vanish.

d) The ethnic dimension should be more used in the promotion of city, in particular regarding the economic valorisation of diversity (for instance using it on the Lisbon Shopping Destination platform or as the basis for the creation of historical ethnic routes in the city).

e) Finally, it would be useful to update the Lisbon Intercultural Guide and to think in a kind of Lisbon ethnic food festival.