LISBON, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- The car hiring app firm Uber announced on Monday that it would be opening a European center of excellence in Lisbon.
The operations and support center will be "the principal source of knowledge for users and drivers throughout the European region," the firm told local media. It will also support the Lisbon launch of UberEATS, a food delivery service.
The company said it chose Lisbon because it is a growing market and because of its ability to provide a multilingual staff. Lisbon defeated Limerick (Ireland), Krakow (Poland) and Paris (France) to attract the new headquarters.
Uber is available in Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve. It began operating in Portugal in 2014 and has around 3,000 drivers.
Portuguese taxi drivers have repeatedly protested, saying that Uber drivers do not comply with industry regulations and licensing standards. A number of injunctions brought by the National Association of Road Carriers and Passenger Cars have sought to outlaw the company. The app was briefly banned by the Court of Lisbon, although the ruling was ultimately bypassed.
Basing the center in Lisbon will create 250 new jobs. It is due to open in 2018.
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