The changes made to the Incentive Scheme for the Regional Development of the Azores (SIDER) have significantly decreased the deadlines whether for project approval, whether for the payment of the approved incentives, stated the Regional Secretary for the Economy in Vila do Porto on Friday. 

Vasco Cordeiro, who spoke before two dozens of business people from Santa Maria during an information session on the SIDER, stressed the work that has been developed with the purpose of allowing “its operation to become an element of credibility in order to encourage investment.”

The Regional Secretary for the Economy said that currently “the average time for analysing applications, that is, the period between the submission of the application and a decision lasts an average of 2.5/3 months, which enables greater confidence in the entire system “since business people are aware that this is the deadline for deciding on their projects.”

Vasco Cordeiro also emphasised that “he has been developing a work in order to minimise the payment deadline of the approved incentives.” In this moment, he stressed, “it is possible to make these payments within one month,” which enables greater confidence in the system.

“With these changes, we intend to ensure that the investment decision taken by a business person is not dependent on the delay of a response by the incentive system.” “This speed may serve as reliable tool for business people and an investment enhancer.”

In order to achieve these goals, Vasco Cordeiro appealed “to the coordination between all those involved in the process, from the business person to the person responsible for the application process so that everything may be carried out quickly,” but “the essential must be assured, such as complying with the regulations and meeting the investment goals.”

During the meeting the business people from Santa Maria, Vasco Cordeiro stressed that with regard to the island of Santa Maria, “an investment volume of 9.5 million Euros has applied to SIDER, which corresponds to more than o dozen of applications.”

Concerning the total of applications in the Azores, “the number of submitted applications is almost reaching 500 with an investment volume of surpassing 300 million Euros. 420 applications have already been approved, corresponding to a an investment over 250 million Euros.”