Public session to disseminate Financial Instrument for Innovation and Competitiveness held today - Communication

Secretaria Regional das Finanças, Planeamento e Administração Pública

The Regional Secretariat for Finance, Planning and Public Administration, through the Regional Directorate for Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness (DREC), held today, at the Regional Civil Engineering Laboratory, in São Miguel, the Public Dissemination Session of the Financial Instrument for Innovation and Competitiveness (IFIC), a new measure to support business investment.

The session, held in person and online, opened with a speech delivered by the Regional Secretary for Finance, Planning and Public Administration, Duarte Freitas, and was attended by the President of the Recuperar Portugal Task Force, Fernando Alfaiate.

The goals and general conditions of IFIC were presented during the event. IFIC is an instrument aimed at supporting companies' investment projects geared towards productive innovation and research and development (R&D). It includes initiatives such as the creation of new establishments, increasing installed capacity, the diversification of production, fundamentally changing the production process, as well as industrial research and experimental development projects, including the creation or reinforcement of permanent R&D teams.

The call for applications is expected to be published in the coming days and will run until January 30, with an overall budget of €40 million.

Applications are eligible from all sectors of activity with a significant presence in the regional economy, from companies of all sizes, with an investment of between €250,000 and €25 million.

The Regional Secretariat for Finance, Planning and Public Administration emphasised that this measure is an important step towards strengthening the competitiveness of the Azores' business fabric, encouraging investment, modernisation and innovation capacity among companies, with positive impacts on value creation and the revitalisation of the regional economy.