The Vice-President of the Government alerted economic agents for the paradigm shift regarding the support to the regional production sector under the funds allocated in the next Community Framework 2014-2020.
Sérgio Ávila revealed that the funds have been reinforced; however he stressed the need of using them efficiently. In this regard, it is necessary to bear in mind that "the challenges regional production structures face today are completely different from those that were posed in 2007 and 2000; for that reason, we cannot replicate the support systems for companies that were available at the time."
"We are faced with a hard fact: on the one hand, internal demand will not grow and, on the other hand, competition will increase substantially," said the government official. According to him, "this means that companies will have to be more competitive and cannot produce or sell exclusively to the markets that are closer and readily available."
For the Vice-President of the Regional Government, "it is essential that public support and public policies do not be created to artificially maintain a level of demand that no longer exists or a production structure that no longer meets the market needs."
"We must all have the courage to innovate and restructure our companies so that they may adapt themselves to the current demand needs. In this regard, they cannot artificially influence demand with the aim of remaining exactly as they are," stated the government official.
"This is the great challenge the next framework should support, which is also a key challenge for the future of Azorean economy," stressed Sérgio Ávila.
The Vice-President of the Regional Government spoke on the sidelines of the launching session of this year's issue of "100 Maiores Empresas dos Açores” (The 100 Largest Companies in the Azores), published by Açoriano Oriental newspaper. The government official considered that the survey carried out by the magazine provides specific information regarding the future of regional production structures.
Sérgio Ávila noted that the best manager and the best project selected by this publication come from sectors related with the production of tradable goods. In this context, the Vice-President stressed that "enhancing our capacity to produce tradable goods and provide tradable services that can be marketed anywhere should be our main challenge for the future." To accomplish this goal, we must reinforce exports and reduce imports.
"The companies that will succeed in the future will be those with the capacity of adapting themselves to the rules of competition," the Regional Secretary said, adding that "nowadays any good or service is accessible at one click." Therefore, successful companies will be "those that will have the capacity of selling products with the best quality and at the best price to any part of the world."