Speech by the President of the Government - Communication

Presidência do Governo Regional

Full text of the speech delivered today by the President of the Government, José Manuel Bolieiro, in Horta at the end of the discussion on the 2025 Plan and Budget:

"We have now ended the parliamentary debate on the 2025 Plan and Budget proposals. In this concluding speech, I will not discuss the debate everyone has wacthed and heard. Everyone has done it from their own perspective. I will discuss the key achievements we have made in our governance, for the Azoreans and together with the Azoreans.

This week, on November 24, we celebrated four years of governance, following 24 consecutive years of Socialist governance. It has been a complex four years of political, economic, social and public health governance.

There have been many challenges and a lot has been achieved to overcome them.

Above all, I will also focus on the potential of the Azores to enhance our future and development.

It seems appropriate to quote former British Prime Minister Tony Blair: "A lot done! A lot to do!" - So much done! So much to do!

Today, we remain attentive to the world and ready for its dynamic reality.

The 2025 Plan and Budget proposals are solid in their amounts and realistic in the goals we want to achieve.

Therefore, I am opting for a positive message here; enough of the downward spiral. Let us raise the Azores. This is what we want to lead towards.

Public investment will amount to 964 million Euros in 2025. We want to make full use of all European funding opportunities. For us, a budget is not an end in itself. It is a tool for development.

The cohesion of the Azores, be it economic, social or territorial, must mobilise all social actors and economic agents. We are driven by the strong will to promote the harmonious development of the Azores across all islands, from Santa Maria to Corvo. We are driven by the desire to improve the quality of life of the Azoreans: for everyone.

Dialogue is the hallmark of our governance. We promote dialogue with political parties and social partners alike.

This Government is proud of the recent revision of the Strategic Partnership Agreement 2023 - 2028 - "Income, Sustainability and Growth," an innovation in our Autonomy, conceived and implemented by my Government - not by the Socialists.

The "Autonomy of Accountability" is a paradigm shift in the autonomic democratic vision and a paradigm shift in the balance between public spending and private activity and initiative. Fortunately, there are signs of the success of this "Autonomy of Accountability," which is moving towards a governance of results.

In this debate, each Government member presented the excellence of their actions in their respective areas of governance. I would like to thank each one of them for fulfilling their mission. Congratulations.

The progressive descentralisation of the Government's role in the Azorean economy and society is bearing fruit.

Without giving up public services and public companies that are indispensable to the Azoreans, the public business sector has been reorganised to boost the private entrepreneurial potential of the regional business fabric.

With us, the Azoreans have gained a new understanding of their land and built up a new concept of their territory. In large part, this is due to the "Azores Fare." It is a measure that has once again been included in the Regional Budget and to continue in 2025.

The "Azores Fare" is not just an act of reducing prices. It is rather an act that brings substance to the idea of territorial continuity and cohesion.

We have undeniable favourable facts!

We have shifted the paradigm of the Azoreans' mobility and their knowledge of our islands. All of them. We have already exceeded one million "Azores Fare" ticket issues since June 2021. A success! An achievement against the pessimists.

The "Autonomy of Accountability" values the private economy and citizens.

We have cut taxes. And we are going to maintain this measure in 2025, even though we know that potential tax revenue will be lost. For example, more than 190 million Euros remained in the economy in the 2023 tax year.

We will maintain the maximum differential of 30% regarding the national Personal Income Tax, Corporate Income Tax and VAT rates. The Government will continue to take money out of its budget so that it stays in the budgets of families and companies. They keep the wealth they generate. We are, thus, promoting the self-reliance of individuals and companies, freeing up their creative capacity to reinvest their wealth.

We are promoting a successful economy in the Azores!

We are living through the longest period ever of successive growth in the economic activity and consumption indices. As of today, there have been more than 41 consecutive months of growth. We currently have the highest number of people in employment ever - 120,200 working. It was not like this before us. Every day there are opportunities for investment, wealth generation and, therefore, more jobs.

Last year, 6,000 more jobs were created, representing a growth rate of 5.2%. The highest growth rate in the country! We are creating jobs. More qualified, better paid and more stable jobs.

Today, 50% of the Azorean labour force has completed secondary or higher education. This figure stood at 47% in 2021. The percentage of employees with contracts of indefinite duration in 2021 was 82.6%. Today, it is around 86%. Growing - confirming a growth trend.

Whereas the average gross monthly salary per employee has been increasing in real terms nationwide since May 2023, having risen by 3.8% in the last quarter, in the Azores the same average gross monthly salary per employee has been increasing in real terms since March 2023, having risen by 5.9% in the last quarter.

More than at a national level. Furthermore, the net advantage is even greater - we pay less tax than Mainland Portugal and Madeira. This is a competitive advantage.

On a social level, we have successfully innovated. I would like to highlight the creation of the "New Elderly" programme, a success in terms of support for our families.

I would like to highlight the change in access to support under the COMPAMID programme. With our Government, getting the full prescription filled at pharmacies is no longer a problem for the neediest people.

I would like to highlight the significant increases in all support measures for displaced families and patients.

I address Azorean taxpayers and I know that they recognise our difference.

I am addressing Azorean workers and the Azorean middle class and I know that they recognise our difference.

We have reduced precarious employment situations and stabilised them with contracts of indefinite duration. 

I address pensioners and I know that they recognise our difference.

I address businesspeople and entrepreneurs, and I know that they recognise our difference.

To everyone in the productive economy, our farmers and fishers, and all those in the industry and services.

I address the civil servants in our public administration and I know that they recognise our difference, which has been to accelerate career progression.

Firstly, teachers, nurses, doctors, senior diagnostic technicians, all public administration careers.

I address all the Social Solidarity Institutions and Santas Casas da Misericórdia, and I know that they recognise our difference.

Between 2020 and 2022, real regional GDP grew by an average of 7.1%, higher than the country's 6.3%. It now represents 89.7% of the national GDP per capita and 70.6% of the European Union's GDP per capita, the highest figures since 2016.

The "Autonomy of Accountability" and the resulting governance of results have created space for this dynamic of success.

The Regional Plan and Budget proposals confirm progress in this new paradigm of "Autonomy of Accountability," this time in the Region's relations with local authorities.

I address our mayors and I know that they recognise our difference.

The regional project that we lead in governance values the capacity of each island, each municipality and each parish.

Investing in Local Power means gaining social and territorial cohesion to overcome inequality and halt the depopulation of our territories.

Regional power and local power are committed and serve the same populations, who will only benefit from a joint effort in favour of common interests.

We have paid out to the municipalities the amounts of the variable participation in the Personal Income Tax, which were outstanding for the years 2009 and 2010. These amounts have never been paid.

We will pay tourist VAT and the budget includes an allocation of 7.8 million Euros for cooperation with local authorities. We will implement the new Technical and Financial Cooperation Scheme between the Autonomous Regional Administration, Parishes and Parish Associations of the Azores.

All this makes me think of Shakespeare's message: "It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves."

And so it has been!

Our remoteness places insurmountable constraints on us.

And yes! We need national solidarity, just as the country needs European solidarity.

And yes! We need European solidarity because we are European citizens.

Nevertheless, we still want to transform this narrative of the Azores vis-à-vis the country and the world. It is not, and cannot be, unique.

In the middle of the Atlantic, we are central. As islands, and in the eyes of the country and Europe, we are a great maritime dimension in the Atlantic. This is the value we add to them.

We are an important asset for the economies of transition and the future, particularly in the blue economy, the space economy and the green economy. We are a territory that, when viewed in terms of its maritime and spatial dimension, is grandiose and rich.

The Portuguese Sea is the fifth-largest sea in the European Union and the twentieth-largest in the world. 56% of the Portuguese sea is located in the Azores. So, we are not small.

And if we look at the spatial territory, we also have another important dimension.

Instead of being a mere economic region of needs, we want to become a geography and economy of opportunities. This is the future path we want to take.

We have a huge carbon sink and, therefore, a huge asset that can guarantee profitability in the future, to be paid for by carbonised and carbonising economies. Those responsible for climate transition owe us that!

We want the Azores to be relevant in scientific knowledge about the sea and the deep seabed, providing us with essential information for the world.

We want to enhance the value of the sea, involving the scientific community, the University of the Azores, the Portuguese Navy, the fishing community and companies linked to the economy of the sea.

We are working to ensure that the future European headquarters of the Deep Sea Observatory will be in the Azores, here in Horta.

Our pioneering role in the world regarding the fulfilment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals has already given us immense global prestige.

Our strategy favours the Azores of the present and the future. The global scale and intensity of the reactions to our decisions to protect the sea evidence the success of this other paradigm shift we have brought about.

We will continue to develop our blue economy.

In the space field, our commitment to the Santa Maria Space Technology Centre is already bearing fruit.

The consolidation of the Azores as the centre of the national and European space project gives us global visibility. The European Space Agency has already chosen Santa Maria for the landing of the first reusable orbital vehicle, the Space Rider, whose mission is scheduled to begin in 2027.

After two atmospheric launches, the suborbital launches are coming soon. This governance has brought Santa Maria closer to the operators. I am announcing here that the first licence application for a suborbital launch centre in the Azores will be submitted in the next few days.

In terms of digital transition, we are committed to renewing the fibre-optic submarine cable ring linking Mainland Portugal to the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands without further delay. We want smart fibre-optic cables with 24 pairs for data transmission.

Also due to our geographical centrality, we have already secured a commitment for the mooring of one or possibly two Atlantic crossing cables owned by Google. This is another aspect of our governance and geography of opportunities.

It will be important to launch a solid strategy for attracting foreign investment. A private investment that will multiply our wealth generation.

This year, the Azores achieved gold-level certification as a Sustainable Tourism Destination by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council under the Earth Check Sustainable Destination programme - an opportunity for increasingly differentiated tourism.

We have always been a crucial point for shipping, serving as a logistical support base for vessels crossing the ocean. This privileged position is a strategic asset for Portugal and the European Union.

We are a hotspot for transatlantic transport routes and we have the best potential to lead the way in sustainable maritime practices.

The Azores have potential in many areas. It is with ambitions such as these that we want to position the future performance of the Azorean youth. Valuing the central role of young people in defining our public policies. From family life to wealth generation and entrepreneurship.

We want to train the most qualified generation ever in the Azores, boosting new dynamics in our development with their highly differentiating qualifications.

We need our youth. I trust our young people. Our collective future lies with them.

Good governance is a process. It is not a state. I am as proud of what has been achieved in recent years as I am motivated by what has already been done.

We feel an enormous desire to continue. Continuing to do more new things. Continuing to do what has not been done and developing the Azores of the future with consistency and strategy.

Making progress for all Azoreans.

We are capable and we have proved it.

Long live our Autonomy.

Long live the Azores."