The Vice-President of the Government opened in Praia da Vitória the facilities of another two technology companies under Terceira Tech Island at a ceremony that highlighted the importance of this project.
 
“Today, Terceira Tech Island is a reference, not as an idea and not as a dream, but rather as a reality” reflected in “more than 140 people who changed their lives and started working in Praia da Vitória downtown," Sérgio Ávila said, pointing out the 16 companies already installed.
 
The companies KCSit and Agap2it, whose new facilities opened Monday, belong to the HIQ Group, which has about 1,300 employees and an annual turnover of around 40 million Euros. It is a prominent group in the national and international technological market, thus being "a reference that was critical to attract" to Terceira Tech Island, said Sérgio Ávila.
 
The Vice-President noted that, “at this early stage” of setting up the two new companies, eight new jobs are being created for programmers who "graduated in our Region." According to him, this project "not only intends that our young people can have an opportunity in the open market, but also that those who left the Region to study and stayed out can have an opportunity to return.”
 
Alluding to the current reality, at a time when Terceira Tech Island already represents “many millions of Euros in terms of the Region's Domestic Gross Product," Sérgio Ávila considered that the project “essentially represents a very high hope for the future.”
 
The Vice-President announced that three companies will open new facilities in Praia da Vitória downtown by the end of the year, addressing their needs to expand their activity. In this regard, he ensured that there will be "further developments shortly, not only in the growth of companies already installed but also of new companies to be installed soon."
 
In turn, Sérgio Ávila stressed that, besides the role of the Government and companies, “the third reason for the success” of Terceira Tech Island lies in “the quality of human resources and in the quality of the young people who decided to join this project by investing in their qualification." So, "if anyone had doubts about the quality of young Azoreans, Terceira Tech Island gave the appropriate answer."
 
“They are as good at working here as they are working from here to the world,” Sérgio Ávila said, highlighting this example as the evidence that "when we want, we can be as good or even better than anyone else in the world.”