The Azores Regional Delegation of the Order of Economists is promoting the Furnas 2025 Conference this Friday, November 21, 2025, at the Terra Nostra Garden Hotel in Furnas, São Miguel. The meeting is dedicated to reflecting on challenges and opportunities related to regional development, entrepreneurship, mobility, and migration. It is supported by the Bensaude Group and brings together academics, policy makers, entrepreneurs, and representatives of civil society.
Throughout the day, from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., key issues for the future of island regions will be discussed, including the role of emigration in the Portuguese economy, the challenges of transport in the Azores’ international connections, and the contribution of entrepreneurship to territorial cohesion. The opening session will be led by Camilo Moniz, President of the Azores Regional Delegation, and António Mendonça, President of the Order of Economists.
The first panel is dedicated to emigration, with a keynote speech by Óscar Afonso, from the Faculty of Economics of the University of Porto, and contributions from José Andrade, Regional Director of Communities, and Onésimo Teotónio de Almeida, academic and essayist at Brown University. This will be followed by a presentation by Professor Maria Rosa Borges, from ISEG and the Order of Economists, on Portuguese public spending on the National Health Service and the reasons for its increase.
The second panel will focus on mobility and emigration, with a keynote speech by Carlos Correia da Fonseca, from the World Bank, and contributions from Francisco Bettencourt and Francisco Furtado on the challenges of mobility in island regions. The third panel is dedicated to entrepreneurship, with contributions from Anton E-Self, from Força Açoreana, José Pereira, from OTAKA, Eleni Kouris, from GLAMAZORES, and Júlia Caplygina, from Massa Mãe.
The conference closes with a presentation by Professor António Costa Silva, who will address global and European geopolitics and the impacts on the development of the Portuguese economy.

In Correio dos Açores-Natalino Viveiros, director

Translated into English as a community outreach program by the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL), in collaboration with Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno. PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.