Portuguese language worth 17% of Portuguese GDP, research suggests / Língua portuguesa vale 17% do PIB luso, aponta pesquisa

I don't usually try to translate news articles in Portuguese (so this is based on what I know of Spanish and Interlingua plus some help from Google), but this one was particularly interesting and I'd like to hear some input from those that know the language because there are a lot of unanswered questions:

• How is the 17% calculated? Actually the answer is probably somewhere here on their site and I'll take a look there in a bit, but maybe somebody will let me know before that. Edit November 25: still not clear about everything the number comes from, but a lot of it seems to come most from the industry built around the language: people coming to the country to learn the language, textbook sales, etc.
  
• Any numbers for other languages? And most interesting...
  
• How effective is this "course for intercomprehension" for Romance speakers compared to learning a language like Interlingua? Would it be worth it for Romance speakers for example to just spend a few months in school on each language in order to develop a mutual intercomprehension?
  

Os primeiros dados de um estudo sobre o valor econômico da língua portuguesa apontam para um peso de 17% no PIB (Produto Interno Bruto) em Portugal, disse Madalena Arroja, diretora dos serviços que promovem o ensino do português no exterior.

The first data from a study on the economic value of the Portuguese language point to a weight of 17% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in Portugal, says Madalena Arrajo, director of the services that promote the study of Portugues abroad.

Durante o debate "A Lusofonia", realizado na quinta-feira, Madalena revelou que o Instituto Camões está fazendo um estudo, envolvendo uma equipe multidisciplinar do Instituto das Ciências do Trabalho e da Empresa (ISCTE,) para determinar o valor econômico da língua portuguesa.

During the debate "The Lusofonia", held on Thursday, Madalena revealed that the Camões Institute had done a study, involving a multidisciplinary team of the Institute of Sciences of Labour and Enterprise, to determine the economic value of the Portuguese language.

Encomendado há um ano, o estudo vai, nos dois primeiros anos, se debruçar sobre a realidade portuguesa, sendo objetivo encontrar apoios de grandes empresas para, no terceiro ano, ser ampliado ao espaço de toda a Comunidade de Países de Língua Portuguesa (CPLP).

Commissioned a year ago, the study will in the first two years look into the reality of the Portuguese language, and aims to find support from large companies, in order to in the third year be extended to the space of the entire Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLC).

Num estudo similar, a Espanha concluiu, há dois anos, que o valor econômico do castelhano no seu PIB era de 15%, enquanto o da língua portuguesa, segundo os primeiros dados, é de aproximadamente 17%.

In a similar study, Spain concluded two years ago that the economic value of Spanish to its GDP was 15%, while that of the Portuguese language, according to the first data, was approximately 17%.

Iniciativas

Initiatives

Ressaltando a importância da língua para o mundo dos negócios e para as empresas que querem entrar em outros mercados, Madalena Arroja ressaltou as prioridades dadas pelo Instituto Camões à CPLP, mas também ao Magrebe e à América Latina.

Emphasizing the importance of the language for the world of trade and for companies that wish to enter into other markets, Madalena Arroja emphasized the priorities gives by the Camões Institute to the CPLC, but also to The Maghreb (North Africa) and Latin America.

A representante do Instituto Camões citou ainda o fato de todos os funcionários do Banco Africano de Desenvolvimento em Túnis, na Tunísia, estarem aprendendo português, segundo um protocolo assinado com o Instituto Camões, e de no Senegal existirem 16 mil e estudantes do português.

The representative of the Camões Institute also cited the fact that all the officials of the African Development Bank in Tunis (in Tunisia) are learning Portuguese, according to a protocol signed with the Camões Institute, and that in Seneral there are 16 thousand students of Portuguese.

Destacando o apoio que é dado por empresas que localmente financiam as atividades dos Centros Culturais Portugueses, Madalena Arroja disse estar sendo negociado um protocolo com a Galp para financiamento das iniciativas do Instituto Camões na educação.

Stressing the support given for companies that locally finance the activities of the Portuguese Cultural Centres, Madanela Arroja said there is a protocol negotiated* with the Galp energy company for financing of initiatives of the Camões Institute in education.

"Na base da globalização, estão os mercados e o português e o castelhano serão línguas de negócios como tem sido o inglês", afirmou, lembrando que o Instituto Camões tenta convencer o Executivo da União Européia a reconhecer que há línguas européias "com uma dimensão externa".

"In the base of globalization these* markets in Portuguese and Spanish will be languages of business as English has been", she affirmed, pointing out that the Camões Institute aims to convince the Executive of the European Union to recognize that there are European languages "with an external dimension".

Em janeiro, será lançado um "curso de intercompreensão" envolvendo o português, o espanhol e o francês, que deverá ser posteriormente alargado ao italiano e ao romeno.

In January, it is launching a "course of intercomprehension" involving Portugues, Spanish and French, which will later on be enlarged to Italian and Romanian.