The Vice-President of the Government stressed the extremely significant membership of Faial and Pico entrepreneurs to the presentation sessions of the Incentive Scheme for Business Competitiveness - Competir+ that were held on these islands over the last two days.

For Sérgio Ávila, this membership not only "exceeded expectations" but also revealed "the interest of entrepreneurs" in the new incentive measures, which, as he stressed, are "the most generous, more intense, more comprehensive and more diverse that was ever created in the Azores."

The government official stressed that the new incentive schemes bring innovation as they "are not only directed to investment but also to the support of companies in the promotion of competitiveness throughout their life cycle."

Moreover, the Vice-President of the Government stressed that these incentive schemes "clearly value job creation and address it in an innovative way" insofar as they consider the costs of hiring new human resources as eligible expenses for reimbursement purposes.

"This innovation, which positively differentiates Azorean companies from other national companies, provides a significant contribution to boosting the competitiveness of companies, especially in the creation of conditions to reduce costs and give an additional impetus to the creation of jobs," said the government official.

Sérgio Ávila also pointed out that "the new incentive schemes acknowledge the importance of investment results" instead of its volume. "In addition to directly supporting the creation of jobs, the amount of support will increase in accordance with the number of jobs that will be effectively created."

The impact of investments on the regional economy is another innovative aspect of the new incentive schemes; the higher the reimbursements rates the greater the impact on the economy.

The Vice-President of the Government also reminded the support granted under these measures will be subject to selection criteria, noting "that the investment in production of tradable goods and services that might increase exports and, consequently, reduce imports will be benefit from higher support levels."

"They are the ones that will not only consolidate regional production, but also contribute to economic growth in the Region," said the government official.

In addition to the presentation sessions of the Incentive Scheme for Business Competitiveness Competir+ already held on Terceira, S. Miguel, Faial and Pico, there are still six scheduled sessions for the month of March.

The sessions for the presentation of Competir+ will have the following schedule: March 13 at Teatro Ribeira-grandense, Ribeira Grande; March 17 at Colombo Hotel, Vila do Porto; March 19 at Graciosa Hotel, Santa Cruz; March 23 at Velas Vocational Training School, S. Jorge; March 26 at the headquarters of Lagoa Business Centre, S. Miguel; March 27 at Flores Hotel, Santa Cruz.
 
This initiative is organised by the Society for the Business Development of the Azores (SDEA) in collaboration with municipal authorities and business associations from several islands. All session will start at 5:30 PM.