The Regional Secretary for the Sea, Science and Technology stated today that the "Azores are the national region with the most projects approved under the Sea2020 operational programme. This corresponds to about six times more than the national average," the government official said, adding that the Region had 644 applications approved in the period mentioned in the most recent report released by the Court of Auditors last Wednesday.
 
Speaking to journalists in Horta, Gui Menezes also stated that, according to that report, the average decision time of applications in the Azores is far below the national average, being 93 days instead of 109 days.
 
"The Sea2020, a national programme, currently registers an implementation of about 27%, i.e., the validated expenditure over programmed expenditure, and a commitment rate of 63%, i.e., the approved expenditure and the programmed expenditure," said the Regional Secretary.
 
"The Court of Auditors did not take into account the regional coordination of the Sea2020 programme in the preparation of the report." Nevertheless, he recalled that, "unlike other operational programmes, this programme started with a one-year delay and this is reflected on the figures presented."
 
Gui Menezes also stressed that "the implementation of these programmes greatly depends on promoters, with many of them belonging to the private sector." Hence, the implementation rates "do not solely depend on governments."
 
"The implementation of these programmes depends on the implementation of projects by promoters," added the government official.
 
The Regional Secretary also stated that the Azores were the second national region, just after the Lisbon and Vale do Tejo region, with the highest number of applications approved, corresponding to 26 million Euros.