The selection commissions of the Incentive Scheme for Regional Development (SIDER) and "Empreende Jovem" programme have proposed for approval 40 new investment projects that correspond to a global investment of 29 million Euros and the creation of 92 jobs.

The approval of these projects represents "a reinforcement of private investment and is also a demonstration of the dynamics of the new investments to be made by the private sector," the Vice-President of the Government of the Azores said, commenting on these new projects.

Sérgio Ávila noted that this fact "is evidenced by the data that was recently made public. According to which, the Azores were the national region that has registered the highest rate in the creation of new companies over the past 12 months; for each company that went bankrupt, four new were created, which certainly will boost the creation of new jobs in the future."

"These approvals, which have been taking place at an increasing rate over the last year, are a sign that businesspeople trust in the Region. Indeed, they trust the Azores and have showed their willingness to carry out new investments," underlined the Vice-President of the Regional Government.

Sérgio Ávila considered that many of these investments "are decisive for the future development of the Region, the generation of added value, the promotion of the Azores as an attractive region in the development of economic activities and, ultimately, for the creation of jobs.

Of the projects now proposed for approval, 10 projects fall under the Subsystem for Support to Local Development and will be developed in the areas of trade, catering, and services, representing an estimated investment of 16 million Euros and the creation of 10 new jobs.

The financial incentive allocated to these projects is set at 2.4 million Euros in the form of non-repayable subsidy and 2 million Euros in the form of reimbursable subsidy.

The Subsystem for Support to Strategic Development aims to support projects of relevant size and importance with a significant impact on the development of local economy. Under this subsystem, 2 applications were approved in the areas of health and innovation, corresponding to an overall investment of 7.7 million Euros and the creation of 20 new jobs.

In this case, the financial incentives for these projects are set at 3 million Euros in the form of non-repayable subsidy and 0.7 million Euros in the form of reimbursable subsidy.

Furthermore, a total of two applications were approved under the Subsystem for Support to Quality and Innovation, corresponding to a total investment of 260 thousand Euros, of which 165 thousand Euros will be allocated in the form of non-repayable subsidy. These projects will create a new job.
 
To date, a total of 896 applications have been submitted under SIDER, representing a global investment of 567 million Euros and the creation of 2,743 new jobs.

As for the "Empreende Jovem" programme, another 26 projects have been approved in a total investment of 4.9 million Euros, which corresponds to the creation of 61 jobs.

These applications represent a proposed financial incentive over 2.9 million Euros to be granted in the form of non-repayable subsidy.

With regard to the distribution of the projects approved under "Empreende Jovem" by island, eight will be developed on São Miguel, seven on Pico, four on Terceira, two on Graciosa, two on Faial, two projects on two islands (Pico-Santa Maria and Faial-Pico) and one on São Jorge.

A total of 282 projects have been submitted under "Empreende Jovem" since its beginning in late July 2010 to present time, which provided an overall investment over 51 million Euros and the creation of 654 jobs.