The Regional Director for Public Works, Technology and Communications revealed today that the Government of the Azores is preparing a strategic management document to define the investments planned for infrastructures and public works in this legislative period.

"The strategies for the construction sector must be defined not only for this year but also for the remainder of the legislative period, taking into consideration the next Community Support Network," stated Bruno Pacheco. The government official spoke to journalists on the sidelines of a meeting with the Azores Building Industry and Public Works Association (AICOPA).

Bruno Pacheco stressed that this meeting with AICOPA "follows the preliminary hearings the Government had with social partners on the legislative reform in the construction sector" and it was also held with the purpose of "discussing the sector and define the guidelines in the near future."

With regard to the strategic planning that underlies a financial and technical planning, the Regional Director stressed that the Azorean Government intends "to create the Public Works Charter in the short-term. It consists of a strategic management document that will define which investments the Government will carry out in infrastructures and public works in this legislative period."

"In addition, the Regional Government will also create a catalogue of endogenous products that may be used in works carried out in the Region," stated Bruno Pacheco.

In this regard, the government official said that "the goal is to consolidate some of the construction companies that also produce these materials so that they may actively collaborate in the certification process of these materials and their use in construction works in the Azores."

The Regional Director for Public Works, Technology and Communications added that in the context of the recently created Agenda for Employment, the Government of the Azores will launch, through the Society for the Promotion and Renewal of Housing and Infrastructures (SPRHI), "the renewal of houses as well as various investments to renew neighbourhoods built by the Region."

Furthermore, Bruno Pacheco revealed that the Azorean Government "will provide a line of credit in the amount of 50 million Euros in order to ensure the funding conditions for urban renewal" investments. The government official added that this is a joint action between the Government and "banks headquartered or operating in the Azores."

The Regional Director also recalled that in November "the President of the Government outlined the establishment of a moratorium to ensure the channelling of investment by public companies for the renewal of buildings in the archipelago so that the dynamics of urban renewal may be connected to the activities of the construction sector."