More than 4,000 jobs were created in the interior of the country in almost three years, following the measures of the Interior Valorization Program (PVI), according to data provided by the Government.

According to information provided to the Lusa agency by the Ministry of Territorial Cohesion (MCT), regarding the end of June, the axis of the PVI “Attract Investments and People from the Interior” allowed the creation of 4,060 jobs, 274 of which were telecommuting.

Most of it was in charge of the Employment +CO3SO program, which had an initial allocation for the interior of the country of 60 million euros, with the creation of 1,100 jobs, but which more than doubled (135.8 million euros), giving rise to the creation of 2,670 jobs.

The Interior Work program, together with the MAIS Interior Employment measure, managed to approve 605 of the 1,070 applications received, covering 1,090 people.

Added to these data are 50 more jobs, the result of the creation of new spaces for collaborative work in 89 municipalities of the interior North (21), Center (35), Alentejo (19) and Algarve (14).

According to the Government, the programs related to job creation are aimed at SMEs and Social Economy organizations and involve the Coordination and Regional Development Commissions (CCDR), in coordination with the inter-municipal communities and municipalities, and the Employment Institute and Professional Training. (IEFP).

The +CO3SO Competitividade program, which aims to “make the interior territories more competitive”, is the one that brings together the most support measures, around a dozen, and the one that brings together the largest approved investment, around 3,630 million euros. euros. , between European and national funds. Of these, 994 million euros have been paid in support so far.

In terms of promoting endogenous resources and the entrepreneurial capacity of the interior, the Knowledge +CO3SO program has involved, to date, an approved investment of more than 250 million euros, of which almost 120 million have been disbursed and 103 million executed.

Regarding the Action Plan for the Digital Transition, its objective is to ensure fixed and mobile broadband coverage in low-density parishes (involving 75% of the population in 2023 and 90% in 2025).

Always in the technological field, the Universalization of the Digital School has an approved investment of around 60 million euros (54 million for the interior), involving 106 municipalities.

In the field of bringing public services closer, the MCT data point, without specifying, to 80 operations carried out in total, 34 of them in the interior, in an approved investment of around 20 million euros.

In the area of ​​Health, the Government highlights the creation, since December 2020, of 110 branches of the SNS24 “that function as health centers at the door”, the majority (95) in the Northern Region.

In the interior, the number of SNS24 offices created amounts to 47 (40 in the North and seven in the Center), around 43% of the total.

Within the framework of the Cultura + Próxima measure, the Cultural Network Programme, “a measure that enables and promotes the carrying out of cultural and artistic activities, allowing cultural associations to present projects in alliance with the municipalities and in an articulated manner between the different actors” , represented, until June 30 and in interior territories, 58 requests (out of a total of 122), corresponding to 18.5 million euros of investment and 16.6 million of support.

The Center region led the number of applications approved for the interior (39), followed by the North (15) and Alentejo (4).

The Culture for All measure, aimed at “promoting social integration and combating poverty and any discrimination, with a view to promoting equal opportunities and active participation and improving employability”, resulted in 30 applications approved in the interior (23 in the North and seven in Alentejo) with an aid of 5.7 million euros.

In agriculture, through the Feed the Feeder campaign, which focuses on 1,019 producers in the interior, 627 Young Rural Entrepreneur titles and 185 Family Farming titles were awarded.

In cross-border cooperation with Spain, 238 projects were approved, corresponding to 717 Portuguese beneficiaries and an investment in Portugal of some 85 million euros, supported by European funds.

Interior Improvement Program is ‘making a difference’, says government

The Interior Improvement Program (PVI), created in 2018, is making a difference in the interior of the continent and will evolve towards specific programs in each region, said the Secretary of State for Regional Development.

“The PVI is not a program that ran out in four years, nor does it run out, we have to continue with these measures, but we have to work more and more with local capillarity. What are we doing right now through the CCDRs? [Comissões de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento Regional]it is what we will call PVI in the regions, to see within the strategy of each region which are the most relevant projects to enhance the value of the interior territories”, said Isabel Ferreira to the Lusa agency.

“They are regional programs that are being worked on and that have as a priority the valorization of the interior territories. It is a work of proximity so that the funds serve to feed strategies that last, ”she added.

Arguing that the PVI measures “are making a difference, they have concrete numbers and they must be given continuity”, the person in charge alluded to the more than five billion euros that the Government has allocated to the program in the last four years, – coming from European funding -, from the State Budget or the Environmental Fund, an investment that, in the next four years, “will be of this order”.

“What we noticed on the ground is the impact that these measures have had on the territory. The development of the interior territories is a priority, it is in the program of this Government and the financial resources will be available”, guaranteed Isabel Ferreira.

Until the revision of the PVI, decided at the end of 2019, the financing notices were prepared for the entire country, with a subsequent increase for companies and other entities located in the interior. With the reformulation of the program, there were notices “exclusively for the interior territories”, recalled Isabel Ferreira.

The minister gave the example of investing in the hiring of highly qualified human resources that, in the previous modality, was located “in 28% in relation to the total.”

“With the exclusive opening to the interior territories, [candidatura] which was open more than two years ago, whether for companies or for entities of the scientific and technological system, the weight became 60%”, observed Isabel Ferreira.

“There are measures that change the reality of the numbers and have a real impact on people’s lives and on the development of regions,” he added.

The main challenge for the interior territories is the demographic challenge, said Isabel Ferreira, who revealed that the measures to face it “must be articulated and complementary” with local actors and entities.

“Defining separate measures and even with an economic endowment and pouring them into the territory is not enough, it cannot be. You have to design many tailored solutions, because the territories are different and with the lack of people in certain territories you cannot have a solution that is universal for the entire country and it is not what is intended, “argued the minister.

“We have to make the different territories gain business dynamism and generate employment, which is always the central objective. The fight against the demographic challenge in the interior is to generate employment, ”she emphasized.

The PVI, which succeeded the National Program for Territorial Cohesion, created in 2016, includes measures that focus mainly on people, business investment and the enhancement of the territory.

The first of these articles includes programs that “encourage the mobility of people towards the interior”, support for hiring and the creation of qualified jobs. On the other hand, it also emphasizes the so-called “services of general interest”, such as access to education, health or culture, which Isabel Ferreira named as “determining factors when choosing the place where you want to live” .

In the area of ​​education, given the inexistence of a sufficient number of students “to form a class and have a functioning school” in secondary education in some areas of the country, pilot projects are being carried out in collaboration with inter-municipal communities. “share knowledge”, classes between neighboring counties”.

“These are innovative projects, but they allow us to bring quality solutions to the territories”, underlined the Secretary of State for Regional Development.

The focus on digital connectivity is also maintained and ANACOM is currently under development. [Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações]a survey of the areas of the country where there are failures in the connection to high-speed networks.

The Government plans, at the end of the year, to open an international competition to fill these gaps: “It is crucial to attract people, attract companies and use services, and boost the national network of coworking in the interior of the country, which already has 89 spaces, from north to south,” said Isabel Ferreira.

In terms of business investment, the Government intends to maintain, in the next framework of community support, “applications dedicated exclusively to the interior territories, open continuously, in different modalities”, such as productive innovation, research and technological development, internationalization and training, among others.

“We have to have the different instruments available so that companies can use them when they need it and not because an ad opens at a certain time and closes later. This stay is very important”, declared Isabel Ferreira.

Regarding the enhancement of the territory, one of the interventions is aimed at cross-border cooperation with Spain, “which faces the same challenges” at a demographic level, which allows for a common strategy.