The President of the Government, António Costa, assured this Saturday that no innovation project candidate for the “mobilizing agenda” program will be excluded due to lack of financing and proposed annual meetings to evaluate the execution of the projects.
António Costa was speaking at the Electricity Museum, in Lisbon, at a ceremony in which the first contracts of the program called “Mobilizing Agendas for Business Innovation” were signed, including the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).
today they were 13 financing contracts signed with consortiums between companies and scientific and technological entities that have applied for this program with projects in sectors such as agri-food, biotechnology and electric mobility.
According to the President of the Government, “the reaction that both the business fabric and the scientific system have had in the face of this challenge has been a pleasant surprise”, through which, with European funds, the Government intends to “structurally change the profile of the Portuguese economy”.
“The jury was a very demanding international jury, which ended up selecting 51 of the 64 consortiums so far, I say so far because I know that there are some consortia that are still in the complaint phase,” he said.
Later, António Costa stated that “it is not for lack of financial resources that the projects will not be carried outIt is not for lack of financial resources that the jury will leave someone behind.”
“I also want to say another very important thing: It is not because there are financial resources that any project must pass the criteria of the jury. I have the enormous advantage of not being part of the jury or even having the qualifications to be part of the jury”, he added, defending that the evaluation of the projects must be done freely and demandingly.
The prime minister proposed that there be meetings like this annually, to “take stock” of these projects, which should be implemented by the end of 2026.
“I believe that this exercise is very important, not only to reinforce the responsibility of the people themselves, but also for the confidence of those, like me, who have to answer for the use of the funds that the European Union has made available to us. , and reinforce the confidence that the European Union has the capacity of the country and its business fabric and its scientific fabric to carry out this transformative project”, he justified.
At the beginning of the ceremony, the Minister of Economy, António Costa Silva, considered that “this element of the PRR is the most emblematic” and “can lead to the transformation of the profile of the Portuguese economy”, creating “high-tech export sectors”.
The signing of the first contracts of the “Mobilizing Agendas for Business Innovation” program occurs “six months before” the deadline established between the Portuguese Government and the European Commission, said Costa Silva.
On Friday, in Porto, the Economy Minister said that companies with projects supported by this program will receive “a transfer of 13% of the money in advance” and estimated that “in the coming months, around 300 million euros will arrive immediately to the companies”. ” to put “the consortiums on the ground”.
This event was also attended by the Ministers of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Elvira Fortunato, of Health, Marta Temido, and of Territorial Cohesion, Ana Abrunhosa.
Source: Observadora
