The Regional Secretary for the Sea, Science and Technology stated in Horta that the Government of the Azores wants to "create the conditions to develop skills in the Region in order to enhance its competitiveness in the areas with higher added value."

Fausto Brito e Abreu spoke at the opening of a seminar on the creation of clusters in the Azores, where he pointed out that the relation between scientific areas and the business sector is "a priority" of the Government.

This seminar was held under the Research and Innovation Strategy for the Smart Specialisation of the Azores - RIS3 Açores to be implemented by 2020. It covers three priority axes: "Fisheries and Sea," "Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Agro-industry" and "Tourism."

"These three pillars embody the goals of environmental quality and biodiversity conservation; the latter is an important factor without which we would not have the sectors of Tourism, Fisheries and Agro-industry," stressed the government official.

Brito e Abreu mentioned that the "seminars taking place are a pre-defined step by the European Commission that requires the creation of theme groups, i.e., clusters, which will have easier access to the funds granted under the next financial support framework."

"In order to successfully implement the RIS3 strategy in the Azores, we need to foster cooperation between companies, the university, public entities and regional business associations," said the government official.

"We must direct the investment in the field research and innovation to the three pillars of the RIS3 Strategy," the Regional Secretary defended, stressing that these seminars may function as "dialogue platforms between various agents, thus encouraging the creation of a network of partnerships."

"We should be able to compete for quality and difference," Brito e Abreu said, pointing out the path to follow in the "Fisheries and Sea" axis. It should focus on "the consolidation of traditional maritime activities," such as fisheries, maritime transport, nautical sports, recreational boating and tourism as well as on the development of new economic activities" like aquaculture, marine biotechnology or the exploitation of marine mineral resources."

With regard to the "Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Agro-industry" axis, Fausto Brito e Abreu emphasised "the need to research and develop new processing, conservation and packaging techniques in order to facilitate the access to new markets and promote products."

As for the "Tourism" axis, the Regional Secretary defended the "definition and consolidation of tourism products that are specific to the reality of the Azores and highlight our differentiating factors, namely our natural resources and biodiversity."

The RIS3 Strategy was developed from the contribution provided by the Cohesion Policy for the goals of the Europe 2020 strategy. It was imposed by the European Commission to Member States for the mobilisation of funds under the new Community Support Framework.
 
The seminars on the creation of clusters in the Azores have already taken place on Terceira and Faial and will be held on S. Miguel next Friday. Targeted at entrepreneurs, professional associations, local authorities and the public in general, these initiatives address the aspects concerning the fundamentals and the importance of clustering processes as well as the analysis of cluster creation in the Azores.