The OP Algarve 21 is in its final phase and the new operational program CRESC 2020 is taking its first steps. CCDR President David Santos is satisfied with the results to date of the PO Algarve (85% of execution at the end of June) and outlines a clear objective for the new community framework: to make the Algarve the region of the country with the lowest unemployment rate .
“I would like that, when this 2014-2020 community framework ends, the Algarve would be the region of the country with the lowest unemployment rate,” said David Santos in a conversation with journalists at the end of the presentation of the results of PO Algarve 21.
This objective can be reached, for the responsible, in several ways, but the support to the companies is the shortest path. “The population is aware that companies are responsible for creating jobs. The State does not have the financial capacity to support all sectors, namely in direct job creation. If it is the companies that create the most jobs, obviously this new community framework has a very large component for them – there are 140 million euros in the incentive system for companies, which includes not only direct support but also the transfer of knowledge via the University of the Algarve, or others», he explains.
CRESC Algarve 2020 has an important new feature that can help, which is the European Social Fund. "To promote business dynamics and foster job creation, the ERDF is important, but with the ESF we can support training, internships in companies, or applications that focus on job creation."
One of these supports involves a program for the insertion of qualified technicians into companies. «We will have 4 million euros to encourage the entry of highly qualified technicians with projects to be developed in companies and we pay for these “internships”. This will be something new in the region», said David Santos.
The qualification of staff in strategic areas for the Algarve is essential in David Santos' opinion, particularly in tourism, where the responsible considers that there is a problem. «In tourism there is a problem of intensive, but low-skilled labor. Many unqualified people have been hired. If it is not possible to implement the mandatory qualification in the area, it would be good to have a differentiation, or an identification that states that the person who is serving had qualification and another did not. We have to improve service in the region. The Algarve, with an excellent professional service linked to the tourism sector, will improve its international value».
So far, "there have been many applications [in Cresc 2020], with regard to companies, in a much higher number than the previous table in the same period", said David Santos.
Although the economic situation in the region is improving, the Regional Development Synthetic Index continues to place the Algarve in the last places at the national level, something that David Santos wants to correct. “The unemployment rate has decreased, bad debt remains high but it has decreased, we continue to grow in the tourism indicators and in the indicators in terms of GDP we are also improving, but in the ISDR we are not improving. We are linked to the University to understand why the region is improving and these values continue to pull us down. For Europe we are a transition region, but in ISDR by INE we are a convergence region».
In total, Cresc Algarve 2020 will have 319 million euros, with the largest “slice” destined for the business support system (140 million euros).
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