Yesterday, the São Miguel Agricultural Association president, Jorge Rita, and the Ponta Delgada Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mário Fortuna, defended implementing “inclusive policies in the region, rather than extractive/usurping policies.”
Jorge Rita and Mário Fortuna prioritize creating “robust institutions, focused on the final objective they should pursue and not on the interests of specific groups such as parties.”
They advocate the “robustness” of institutions such as the “high levels of public administration that need to function continuously, even when the political context is changing, to depoliticize them and allow them to function properly whatever the political context.” They are also in favor of giving “priority” to the “robustness” of “institutions that support the development of exports of goods and services (examples: AICEP vs. no equivalent in the Azores; Visit Azores vs. equivalent Turismo de Portugal; IAPMEI vs. no equivalent in the Azores, etc.).”
They also defend the “robustness” of “institutions to monitor the competitiveness of the key productive sectors in the Azores” (examples include the agro-industrial sector, the fishing sector, the tourism sector, and the sea sector).”
“Protecting the economy from political turbulence.”
They want to “protect the economy from political turbulence” and say that political readjustment processes “must not be synonymous with disrupting the functioning of the fundamental institutions of our economic and social system.”
They announce the reissue of a Partnership Agreement with the social partners for “a stable and predictable medium-term policy agenda,” “reducing the weight of debt in GDP,” and the “total elimination of arrears.”
For 2024, Jorge Rita and Mário Fortuna advocate “more sustainable global economic growth, based above all on the growth of exporting tradable sectors.”
They want “more growth in the added value embodied in traditional exports of goods and services” and the “stability of working environments for companies in all sectors of economic activity.”
They consider it a “necessity” to set up “institutions capable of leveraging the resilient functioning of the economy and society.”
They advocate “ensuring the proper implementation” of the European cohesion programs and PO2030 and creating a “more solid basis for the success of social policies including education, health and poverty.”
The Azores must maintain the 5% increase in the minimum wage
The São Miguel Agricultural Association presidents and the Ponta Delgada Chamber of Commerce and Industry favor “keeping the tax differential at the maximum allowed in the Autonomous Regions Finance Law” and don’t want “new taxes and fees”.
They want to “ensure a regional increase of a maximum of 5% to the value of the guaranteed minimum monthly wage that will be set” and to “speed up investment in port, airport and tourist infrastructures, with a view to building their capacity for the expected flows of passengers, goods and visitors.”
They call for “a new model for maritime transport that decriminalizes private users and reduces the excessive cost of these services for the user” and defend the creation of “a model for attracting and establishing new air routes to combat seasonality.”
Jorge Rita and Mário Fortuna stress the “creation of an effective capitalization system for the entire regional business fabric” and that we “value and increase the qualifications of Azoreans and promote the continuous training of workers in all sectors of activity.”
They believe “maintaining the ‘Azores Tariff’ is fundamental to boosting domestic tourism and fostering the regional economy and the economic and social cohesion of the archipelago.”
Other objectives they advocate are “regulating and making operational the statute of tax benefits in IRC, including the regulation of tax deductions for reinvested profits, already provided for” in the diplomas approving the Budget of the Autonomous Region of the Azores and the “simplification and improvement of the Statute of Tax Benefits in Contractual Regime.”
“Promoting the competitiveness of Azorean companies, cutting red tape, speeding up responses, strengthening the resilience of the regional business fabric and boosting effective wage appreciation,” is another of the priorities of the São Miguel Agricultural Association and the Ponta Delgada Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which are calling for “swift and unbureaucratic implementation” of the P2030 and the PRR.
They also call for “a regime pact so as not to bring more dysfunctionality to a regime that will tend to be more vulnerable to the new idiosyncrasies of democracy, to the detriment of the economy, society and our position in development indicators.”
“The Azores and Portugal have a path of divergence from the EU”
In the opinion of the São Miguel Agricultural Association and the Ponta Delgada Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Azores and Portugal, too, “have been on a path of economic divergence, measured by GDP/capita, compared to the European Union, despite the European cohesion policy from which we have benefited.”
They note that the Azores “have shown an economic divergence from the rest of the country in recent years,” considering that various socio-economic indicators of education and poverty “are clearly unfavorable in the Azores.”
They point out that the Azores will be entering a period of “acceleration” in the implementation of the PRR and P2030″ and that the political situation “is now uncertain and should only be clarified by the end of the first quarter of 2024.”
They stress that the region “will likely face greater political uncertainty in the coming years, both at national and regional level.”
They believe that society and the economy “cannot be harmed by political instability because there are many fundamental challenges for our growth, for society and for a future closer to the average income values of Europe, where we are integrated.”
They reaffirm that the processes of political readjustment “must not be synonymous with disrupting the functioning of the fundamental institutions of our economic and social system.”
in Correio dos Açores–Natalino Viveiros-director
Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Cultures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno
Novidades - The Islands and the Diaspora 