The Minister of Economy, Manuel Castro Almeida, today announced an instrument for companies in the Central region created with unused funds from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), focused on investments that could reach up to 400 million euros. According to a statement from the Câmara da Marinha Grande (Leiria district), after a meeting with businesspeople, Castro Almeida revealed “that the Government will open, by the end of February, the IFIC — Financial Instrument for Innovation and Competitiveness, created with unused PRR funds”.
“The new competition will be exclusively aimed at companies in the Central region, affected by the storm, focused on investments that could reach 400 million euros, with a public allocation of 150 million”he said, specifying that the Government may assume a contribution “between 30% and 50% lost”.
According to the Minister of Economy and Territorial Cohesion, the support constitutes “a new source of financing”, designed to accelerate economic recovery and reinforce regional competitiveness, The Government’s objective is to adapt the money to the real needs of the region, establishing eligibility rules in dialogue with the business community. The Secretary of State for Industry, João Rui Ferreira, reinforced that the instrument is particularly oriented towards industry and aligned with regional and sectoral needs, according to the same statement.
The announcement was made in a meeting held at the Technological Center for the Mold, Special Tools and Plastics Industry (CENTIMFE) and was attended by representatives from the Municipality of Marinha Grande, CCDRC, Mission Structure, IAPMEI, Intermunicipal Community of the Leiria Region, business and sector associations and entrepreneurs.
During the meeting, businesspeople and sector representatives shared concerns and proposals and drew attention to unresolved problems, such as the high cost of generators due to the lack of normalization of medium voltage, a situation that still affects many companies, the city hall’s informative note also indicated.
“This new program represents a concrete sign of recognition of the difficulties experienced by companies in our region and the need for an exceptional response” said, quoted in the statement, the president of the Marinha Grande Chamber, Paulo Vicente (PS).
The Economy Minister said that requests for support have already been received from four thousand companies, which declared almost R$1 billion in losses caused by the bad weather. In relation to damage to own homes, more than 11 thousand requests for support have already been submitted, he added.
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