For the President of the Government, it is necessary and desirable to extend reforms to maritime transport, seizing the potential of the Sea as a means of communication and as driving force in the progress and development of each island of the archipelago.
Like the new air accessibility model to the Region, already implemented, "it is necessary to extend, without fear, the reform to maritime transport. We believe this is possible and desirable," said Vasco Cordeiro. The President of the Government spoke Tuesday at the ceremony to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the company Transinsular.
According to Vasco Cordeiro, this process should not just be a strategy to promote the Sea as a means of communication. It should also promote it as a driving in the progress in order to project each Azorean island as part of the economic and social development of the Region.
In his speech, the President of the Government also called for the need to have a clear view about the component of strategic goals and the operational component.
"The possibility to extend a particular model, similarly to the one implemented on the 'Triangle islands (Faial, Pico and S. Jorge), or to trigger a discussion on the usefulness of this transport model falls under the goal to boos economy. It cannot be confused with the operational component," noted Vasco Cordeiro.
From this standpoint, the President of the Government stressed that this should be done in partnership. In this regard, Vasco Cordeiro conveyed the Government's clear intention to pursue these goals, without compromising its dynamic role in the promotion of change and without "ignoring the contribution and the history of those who have made a living from these activities over the years."
However, the President of the Government warned that the contributions that external entities can provide to the accomplishment of the Region's goals in the area of the Sea cannot be ignored. This is the reason that justifies the participation of the Regional Government in the mid-term revision of the EU Strategy for Maritime Transport.
"The goal is to get the European Union to be consistent with the importance it assigns to Outermost Regions (ORs). It is not possible to define support measures and incentives for ports located in other parts of the European Union that are included in the so-called Trans-European Transport Networks and, simultaneously, exclude the ports located in Outermost Regions," said Vasco Cordeiro.
According to the President of the Government, this is an aspect in which the European must be consistent with what claims to defend, that is, the importance of Outermost Region and their integration into a wider strategy.