The Vice-President of the Government lectured on the Azorean Agenda for Employment Creation and Business Competitiveness to the students of the Department of Economics and Business Management at the University of the Azores in the context of the Late Night Chat initiative.

Sérgio Ávila began by addressing the monetary policies pursued by the European Union, which he considered to be partly responsible for the recession in EU, which is being felt harder in smaller countries like Portugal. The government official stressed that the current situation poses several challenges the Region is committed to overcome.

In this context, the Vice-President defended that public incentives should be mainly targeted to companies with export capacity or that contribute to the reduction of imports, thus generating a considerable return to the regional economy.

Sérgio Ávila also mentioned the need "to qualify the regional production structure" in order to maximise the use "of better qualified human resources" that already exist, which will bring more added value to companies.

The Vice-President also stressed the importance of making the "Azores" brand capable of comprising various productions in the archipelago and strengthening the promotion of these products, particularly at large-scale distributors.

The promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship is another axis in which the Government of the Azores has defined lines of action with the aim of boosting regional economy.

Sérgio Ávila emphasised the importance of fostering the creation of a venture capital company that has the capacity to counterbalance the current limitations the banking sector faces in the support to investment as well as to allocate funds for the financial restructuring of companies with clear export potential.

Furthermore, the Government of the Azores defends the implementation of other important measures, including the support to employment and vocational training with several programmes and the allocation of financial incentives for companies to employ more skilled workers. The area of urban renewal, considered as a strategic goal, will be given priority in the Government's Agenda, with special emphasis on the construction sector and the modernisation and innovation of commerce.

Promoting new activities or recover others with production potential, such as the timber or wine production sector, were other aspects mentioned by Sérgio Ávila during his lecture that was mainly attended by students and professors.