The Regional Secretary for the Economy urged all businesspeople wishing to invest on any island "to submit their applications under the Incentive Scheme for the Regional Development of the Azores as the funds are already assured by the government and, therefore, there is no reason to fear a failure in these support measures."

Vasco Cordeiro spoke during an information session on the new rules of SIDER held on São Jorge today and assured that "the Government has considered funding guarantees as one of the cornerstones of its action by building a system based on good reimbursement rates which also encompasses attractive areas for investing in the Region."

"We have been specifically working in processes with the purpose of simplifying procedures and speeding up the analysis of applications as well as the payment of support approved," added the Regional Secretary.

The government official recalled that SIDER "is a powerful tool to support regional companies and job creation" as evidenced by the overall figures concerning this system: "over 700 applications have been presented, representing a global investment that already exceeds 460 million Euros."

Vasco Cordeiro ensured that "the Government is paying close attention to the current situation so that the incentive schemes may be adjusted to better respond to the situation of companies in these troubled times. We are perfectly aware that the investment may be conditioned; therefore, our strategy has focused on the creation of conditions to improve the support provided by these incentive schemes to the companies investing in the Region."