The Regional Secretary of the Presidency for External Relations highlighted in Angra do Heroísmo the Azores' “particular inclination” for international cooperation.
 
“It is in this exchange and in sharing the knowledge of the European space where we are that we learn from other experiences. This is the basis of all interregional cooperation projects - and there are many - in which the Azores have been involved over the years," said Rui Bettencourt. The government official spoke at the opening of the "Islands of Innovation" project, noting that "cooperating is to take action towards development.”
 
“In this context, the fact that this meeting will take place in the Azores, more specifically on Terceira Island, is quite relevant for being an outermost region and island of the European Union, whose social, economic and territorial cohesion challenges are at the heart of our development project. Furthermore, its central geostrategic position - between Europe, America and Africa - strengthens our particular inclination for international cooperation," stated the government official.
 
The Secretary for External Relations recalled that we are "at the beginning of the design and implementation of the next multiannual financial framework for 2021-2027." According to him, this document "should be based on a clear strategic vision of our development" and that this clear strategic vision "should also clearly integrate innovation with all it entails."
 
"We understand that the regions present here can help creating a strategy for innovation that leads to development," added the government official.
 
“In the Azores, this understanding takes shape in our Azores 2020 operational programme, our Smart Specialisation Strategy and in our Innovation Agenda. In this context, your presence once again in the Azores will certainly provide an opportunity for the establishment of closer relations based on mutual knowledge and with a structured and continuous cooperation that will have an impact,” said the government official.
 
Addressing the participants at the meeting, which brings together partners from the Netherlands, France, Denmark, Estonia, Greece and Portugal, the Regional Secretary highlighted, among the initiatives included in the programme, visits to projects and sites of interest linked to various sectors of activity. On the occasion, he added that the geographical location of the archipelago can be “an asset in a project based on the enhancement of human resources by qualifying and training them and, consequently, promoting economic revitalisation.”
 
Moreover, the government official stated that they will also have the opportunity to participate in an open discussion and collection of contributions at the University of the Azores under the ongoing revision of the Azores Smart Specialisation Strategy “on one of the most emblematic sectors of the Azores: agriculture, livestock farming and agro-industry."
 
Rui Bettencourt also assured the partners of the "Islands of Innovation" project that 'they can count on the Regional Government to continue contributing to this project aimed at implementing their action plans for interregional cooperation, for cohesion between regions and for cohesion in Europe, which is now entering its second phase."