Vasco Cordeiro announces new line of credit amounting to 30 million Euros to support the agricultural sector
The President of the Government announced in Ponta Delgada the availability of a new line of credit to support the agricultural sector in the amount of 30 million Euros. This is another tool that will become available for Azorean farmers in order to help them addressing and overcoming the challenges they currently face.
AGROCRÉDITO is especially targeted to working capital as well as to the reinforcement of the financial capacity of farms. It has a limit of 50 Euros per beneficiary, through the subsidisation of interest rates.
"This line of credit is important not only for what it means in terms of the creation of the measures implemented by the Regional Government, but also for what it means as part of a series of tools at the service of farmers that play an important role in the strengthening of our agricultural sector, "said Vasco Cordeiro. The President of the Government spoke at the signing ceremony of the protocols with the financial institutions that have joined this line of credit.
In his speech, the President of the Government stressed the relevance of programmes, such as the support for agricultural modernisation, which has already supported more than 5,200 projects with a private investment of nine million Euros. Moreover, the government official mentioned the incentive scheme for the purchase of agricultural land that has allowed farmers to acquire 1,400 hectares of land in a total investment of 18.5 million Euros or the investments made by the Government to expand the water and power supply systems to farms.
"These investments are important insofar as they can improve the capacity of regional farmers to make a good use of EU funds," said Vasco Cordeiro. According to him, "this is a decisive moment" insofar as we are at the beginning of a new Community Support Framework and the implementation of PRORURAL +.
Under this programme, approved in February, the Government has already implemented 11 of the 16 measures that were initially provided. Vasco Cordeiro added that "all measures provided under PRORURAL+ will be duly implemented this year within the predefined schedule so that they may contribute to the development of regional agriculture and economy as well as to the creation of wealth and jobs in the archipelago.”
With regard to PRORURAL +, the President of the Government stressed that the programme "was welcomed by potential beneficiaries, who are seizing the opportunities brought by it. In this context, the government official revealed that "more than 120 projects" have already been submitted under the measures to support the modernisation of farms, the first installation of farmers or the processing and marketing of agricultural products, "representing an overall investment of 23 million Euros." In turn, "six thousand applications" have already been registered under the measures for the maintenance of farming activities in disadvantaged areas, which corresponds to an annual investment of 15 million Euros."
"This is a good evidence of how farmers have used the wide range of tools at their disposal. Whether in terms of quality or in terms of quantity, we must highlight the performance of the regional production sector," the President of the Government stressed, adding that "the regional agricultural sector is not just limited to production capacity; it also includes a processing and a marketing component."
"We cannot ignore the challenges we face and we cannot fail to explore all possible ways to strengthen our ability to successfully overcome these challenges," said Vasco Cordeiro. In this context, the President of the Government restated the need to continue to claim "an additional envelope under POSEI that can help production overcoming this phase and the consequences arising from the end of milk quotas. Nevertheless, we should also stress the importance of using the available tools to overcome obstacles, namely those concerning the search for new markets and new sales channels.
Vasco Cordeiro expressed his "confidence" in the capacity of Azorean people to overcome the challenges they face, pointing out that this trust is "rooted in our history and in the challenges we have been able to overcome in the past."
"If we manage to replicate this understanding between the Government and banking institutions in various possible combinations of this sector and extend this understanding to other areas, such as processing and marketing, we will be able to overcome these challenges," said the President of Government.