The Regional Secretary for Tourism and Transport revealed in Ponta Delgada that the Regional Public Works Charter (CROP), whose revision is about to be concluded, provides a global investment over 400 million Euros by 2020.

"This is a strategic document for companies and the revision process of the entire CROP is extremely relevant to extend its term to the same time period of implementation of the Community Support Framework, which will ensure the stability of companies and allow them to use this charter as a truly strategic tool," said Vítor Fraga. The government official spoke to journalists at the end of a meeting with the Administration Board of the Azores Building Industry and Public Works Association (AICOPA).

The Regional Secretary announced that he will convene the meeting of the Regional Public Works Council on April 8 in order to "present the charter in more detail to all industry partners."

At the meeting, the Government will also submit two proposals for legislative amendments.

The first amendment concerns a change to the legal framework on public procurement. In this context, Vítor Fraga stressed that the Azores are "the first region of the country to include the provisions of the new EU directive, approved in February 2014."

This directive aims to ensure "a more transparent and faster system that will be better suited to our reality, thus contributing to the revitalisation of the construction industry in the Azores."

The second proposal is related to the scheme on the energy certification of buildings. The Regional Secretary mentioned "this work has been prepared over the past two years and included the contributions provided by AICOPA regarding the adaptation of the parameters reflecting our climate specificities to our reality" in the construction sector.

"This work has been done. There is a draft proposal that, in addition to simplifying the entire certification process, ensures savings of 16% in the construction sector, particularly in terms of covering materials, as well as savings of 10% in the operation of buildings, i.e., the daily energy consumption. In both cases, these are significant figures," revealed Vítor Fraga.