In the Algarve, there are innovative entrepreneurs and companies, well-established brands, others in the process of consolidation and business ideas that are now taking their first steps or are still on paper, but which have great potential. All had their space in the final session of the debate cycle «Made in Algarve», which took place last Friday, at Teatro das Figuras.
The cultural space of the capital of Faro was a real stage for business initiatives and business ideas in the Algarve, on an occasion when Europe Day was celebrated. A symbolic date, since the initiative of the Algarve Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDRA) aimed to «show good business practices and show how the money was invested and what the Algarve did well in the current period of programming (of European Union Support) 2007 – 2013».
A special session of Ignite Algarve, where communication skills were explored, a debate with the promoters of three well-established Algarve companies and the presentation of the winners of the contest «Ideias em Caixa», promoted by the University of Algarve, embodied the program of this last conference.
To close, and already with the presence of the Secretary of State for Tourism Adolfo Mesquita Nunes, the exhibition «Made in Algarve» was inaugurated, revealing 30 companies that stand out in the Algarve's economic fabric and that are being supported by the QREN. Despite having been launched in the Foyer of Teatro das Figuras, the show moved that same day to the headquarters of CCDR Algarve, in Largo da Pontinha in Faro, where it can be seen until the 9th of July.
The 2007/13 Community Support Framework was the common denominator among the projects that were highlighted on Friday, as the business areas of the supported projects are very diversified. That is why CCDRA chose to divide the cycle of conferences into key themes, namely, Land, Sea, Tourism, Industry and Services.
«With this cycle, we have demonstrated – and when I say this, I am talking about entrepreneurs – that we have excellent companies in the Algarve, innovative, with a lot of knowledge and success. We chose 30 for the exhibition and today, but there could have been many more», illustrated the president of CCDRA David Santos, to Sul Informação, on the sidelines of the session.
The person in charge of the entity responsible for the Algarve 21 Operational Program, which manages the Community Funds destined for the Algarve, points out that "it was very difficult to choose" only 30 business initiatives and that it is not intended to "slight any of the others". «They were those that, within the QREN, had the best candidacies, to be represented here», he considered.
«We have here companies linked to new technologies, with products for tourism, companies related to agriculture, fisheries and crafts, the only Data Center in the region, theme parks and a company that does advertising and cinema, through our director André Badalo» , summarized David Santos.
Faro lived very enterprising late
The last conference «Made in Algarve» lasted an afternoon, where it was possible to show a lot of what has been done in terms of promoting and supporting entrepreneurship in the Algarve, but also how one becomes an entrepreneur.
The afternoon started with an Ignite meeting different than usual, where each speaker had 5 minutes and 20 slides, to stimulate the audience with their ideas, convictions, personal experiences or professional bets.
After this intense and lively session, led by Domingos Pereira, from Ignite Algarve, the winners of the contest «Ideias em Caixa», promoted by UAlg, through CRIA – UAlg's Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer Division, were made known. supported by QREN.
Here, the names of the 24 winners were announced, a number that turned out to be much larger than the 15 initially foreseen and 17 honorable mentions, all of them chosen from a batch of 50 projects. The winner of the 4800 euro cash prize was the project to create a maternity of Portuguese oyster «Angulata».
After those who dream of creating their own company, voice was given to those who have already done so for a long time and are now successful cases. CCDRA brought together in a round table the heads of companies Rolear, Hubel and Zoomarine and the vice president of CIP Vítor Neto, with the debate being moderated by journalist Ricardo Claro, from Postal do Algarve. After the closing session, chaired by Adolfo Mesquita Nunes, the Made in Algarve exhibition was inaugurated.
Tourism will have to continue to be the «locomotive» of the Algarve
«Tourism continues to be our anchor. I like to call it the locomotive, which pulls everything else behind it. The Algarve is not just about sun and sea, it is much more than that, but we cannot abandon it either», he added.
During the initiative, the president of the CCDRA had already put forward some numbers of the QREN 2007/13, which end up proving this idea that tourism continues to be the great engine of the region.
«We approved 402 projects in the Incentive Systems with an eligible investment amount of around 191 million euros. In this universe of projects, 72 percent of eligible investment is associated with projects in the tourism sector, 15 percent is associated with services, 6 percent is linked to trade and only 5 percent is linked to industry," he said.
"Of the eligible investment, 73 percent came from micro and small companies, 12 from medium-sized companies and 15 percent from large companies," he added.
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