The President of the Government stressed today the Regional Government's commitment to harness the potentialities of the wine sector to create wealth and jobs in the Azores, pointing out the example of Pico Island, which will have over 350 hectares of wine production within a few years.

"This is a very significant investment of the Government. We have doubled the allocation of public funds to these support measures since late 2012. We have increased the allocation of public incentives from 500 thousand Euros to over a million Euros for the revitalisation of these areas," said Vasco Cordeiro.

The President of the Government spoke to reporters during a visit to a vineyard area at the beginning of the statutory visit to Pico. The vineyard is being recovered by the regional company Azores Wine Company.

Vasco Cordeiro stressed that the Government's investment in this sector is beginning to show results. At the time when the Landscape of Pico Island Vineyard Culture was classified by UNESCO, the wine production area stretched over an area 130 hectares and now, the vineyard area is expected to grow to about 350 hectares within three or four years.

"This is important for what it means from an economic standpoint, but is also important for the fact that we have used our regional resources to generate wealth, create jobs and to project the Region to a level of excellence," said Vasco Cordeiro.

The President of the Government stated that today's visit to the vineyard area under recovery is intended to demonstrate the compliance and the implementation of the commitment the made by the Government from the very beginning, as in accordance with the Azorean Agenda for Employment Creation and Business Competitiveness.

"We believe this is an area with great potential that will provide a decisive contribution to job creation and wealth generation in our Region", said Vasco Cordeiro.