Lisbon-headquartered law firm Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados, is set to open a new office in Singapore as it eyes the growing renewable energy sector in Asia, as well as rising legal demand from Asian investments in Africa.

The announcement continues a trend of international law firms setting up offices in Singapore, particularly since 2020. The most recent announced entrants were UK wealth management-focused firm Charles Russell Speechlys, and another Iberian firm, Spain’s Pérez-Llorca.

The new office will be Morais Leitão’s first in Asia and seventh worldwide. The firm was previously in a partnership with Macau law firm MdME Lawyers.

“Singapore has the largest number of multinationals represented locally in comparison to other Asian strategic centres, making it the perfect hub to develop our Asia-Pacific regional strategy. There is also a strong flow of investment originating in the region to projects in Africa, where we have been growing our presence with a number of remarkable deals,” said André de Sousa Vieira, a Morais Leitão partner specialising in project development and finance, in a statement.