The Regional Secretary for the Sea, Science and Technology stated in Ponta Delgada that the Azores "have the capacity to host large scientific events," noting the importance of these meetings for the Azorean scientists integrated in international networks.
 
Therefore, Fausto Brito e Abreu assured the Regional Government's commitment to organise in the archipelago several initiatives, such as the 22nd European VLBI Meeting for Geodesy and Astronomy (EVGA 2015), held in Ponta Delgada in May 2015.
 
The Regional Secretary spoke at the delivery ceremony of the EGVA 2015 book of minutes to the event sponsors, whom he thanked for their contribution to "increased participation and, consequently, to a greater projection of the event and the Region."
 
In his speech, the government official also recalled the support of the Regional Directorate for Science and Technology, through applications, organisation of scientific events in the Azores. It also covers the participation of Azorean scientists in scientific meetings outside the archipelago, thus "contributing to the establishment of international networks and attraction of projects to the Region."
 
Brito e Abreu mentioned that the minute book is the result of a scientific meeting that brought together more than a hundred participants from 17 countries and organisations such as NASA, MIT, Japanese Aerospace Institute and the Chinese Astrophysics Laboratory of Dynamics, among others.
 
In this context, the government official considered it may be "a good consultation tool on VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometry) geodesic and astronomic aspects, including hardware, correlation, analysis and results from a scientific and technological perspective.
 
The book comprises the papers delivered by the scientists who took part EVGA 2015 and worked in very-long baseline interferometry, one of the most accurate methods of measuring the Earth and its orientation in space.
 
Brito e Abreu reiterated that one of the Government's goals is to "ensure that the Azores take advantage of its strategic location" in the middle of the Atlantic to develop space technologies, emphasising the "major investment" in the implementation of technological infrastructures, namely those related to space and Earth observation, climatology and detection of nuclear tests.
 
The Regional Secretary pointed out, as example, the opening of one station on the island of Santa Maria in 2015 under the annual meeting of EVGA. This is one of the four fundamental geodetic stations that make up the Atlantic Network of Space Geodynamics Stations (RAEGE), which are intended to conduct studies in the field of astronomy, geodesy and geophysics. In this context, the government official reminded the Government plans to install another geodetic station of this network on Flores next year.