The Government of the Azores "is completing the revision of Support Scheme for the Promotion of Azorean Products with the purpose of reinforcing its capacity in terms of transport and support to promotional campaigns," announced the Regional Secretary for the Economy, who estimated the completion of this process by the end of the first quarter of 2012. "Currently, the horticultural sector is one of the sectors that may have a greater impact on import substitution, becoming important for the development of the productive capacity of our islands," stated the Regional Secretary.

Vasco Cordeiro spoke at the opening session of the 1st Meeting of Horticulture and explained that the revision of the support to production and promotion aims to improve the response of the regional economy to current challenges. The horticultural sector, the government official defended, "is of great importance to Azorean economy for its role in increasing the regional production of this type of products. In this context, this is clearly a sector that can be of great relevance to the regional economy."

In fact, "the reinforcement of our production capacity is very important since it allows the adjustment of our consumption needs to our production," added the Regional Secretary.

The current system "already includes important measures for regional producers, like the support to the promotion, transport, participation in fairs as well as to packaging design and development." In the future, he stressed, "we are also determined to face other challenges, such as the increase of agricultural production and its quality, and the improvement of organisational structures by restructuring the marketing and distribution circuits."

For Vasco Cordeiro, the importance of horticulture "is not limited to the agricultural policies conducted by the Regional Government. Its importance also lies in the connection to other equally important areas for the Regions," such as the capacity to create jobs, maintain populations, mostly youngsters, and boost local economies."