The Council of the Government held an extraordinary meeting in Ponta Delgada on Monday to analyse a series of measures intended to reinforce the competitiveness of companies and the conditions for the creation and maintenance of jobs.

"This is an extraordinary meeting held by the Council of the Government that will address cyclical and structural measures in order to ensure a proper and timely organisation of incentive systems, which may provide an important contribution to job creation," said the President of the Regional Government to journalists.

According to Vasco Cordeiro, the proposals under analysis on Monday aim to create the foundations for boosting the creation of jobs through the sectoral development of each measure.

"By early 2013, we intend to put into operation the measures with immediate application as well as other measures with the dates and goals defined for their implementation," added the President of the Regional Government.

A second aspect concerns the process that will follow this meeting of the Council of the Government, stated Vasco Cordeiro.  In this context, the government official announced that during this period he intends to submit these proposals to social partners and political parties through a meeting of the Regional Strategic Concertation Council.

This "Agenda for Employment Creation aims to reach a broad consensus and unite all forces in the Region so that the Azores may overcome, as effecinetly as possible, the challenge of creating employment," concluded Vasco Cordeiro.