Sabrosa, Portugal, June 27, 2024 (Lusa) - The Rural Development Programme (PDR) 2020 has funded 700 projects in seven Douro municipalities, creating 100 direct jobs and leveraging an investment of over €24 million, the Douro Histórico association announced on Thursday.
"This is an extremely positive result that is essentially due to our entrepreneurs and our companies," said Luís Machado, president of the association and mayor of Santa Marta de Penaguião.
Douro Histórico is a local action group recognised by the Ministry of Agriculture, a private entity responsible for managing Measure 10 of the RDP 2020—Implementation of Community-Based Local Development Strategies.
The assessment of the activities carried out by the association, which operates in the municipalities of Alijó, Peso da Régua, Mesão Frio, Murça, Sabrosa, Santa Marta de Penaguião and Vila Real, was made today at a press conference held in São Martinho de Anta, in the municipality of Sabrosa.
During the last programming framework, 700 projects were approved, creating around 100 direct jobs, with EU funding of €12 million that leveraged an investment of over €24 million.
The majority of the projects were 50% financed through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the European Social Fund (ESF), and benefited mainly small and micro-enterprises, but also local authorities.
The president emphasised that the projects "have a strong focus on wine," one of these municipalities' main economic activities.
Specifically, the projects supported are in the agricultural sector, in terms of production and processing, mainly olive and almond plantations, purchasing farm implements and equipment, improving agro-industrial plants in the wine sector, and improving commercialisation spaces to support markets for local products.
In the area of tourism, support was given to projects for the creation of tourist accommodation, the enhancement of public spaces for visitors, the preservation and valuation of nature and cultural identity, and the creation and support of micro-enterprises of various types and areas of activity.
"The last framework was affected by Covid-19 and then by the war in Ukraine, which also changed our procedures, our habits, but even so, we managed to move from a financial envelope of €3.2 million to funding of more than €12 million," said Luís Machado. Douro Histórico was set up in 1991 and, in 33 years, has raised €56 million for the region, through the realisation of 1,700 projects, which have resulted in the creation of 450 jobs.
For the next 20/30 programming framework, Luís Machado said that the planned financial envelope is €2.7 million.
"It's not what we expected, it's less than the previous one, but it's also true that, in the previous one, we started from a very low base and managed to make a big investment. That's our conviction," he emphasised.
The mayor also said he didn't agree with the criteria outlined for funding because "what is different should be treated differently".
"The authorities are very insistent on valuing the inhabitants, but today we know that this criterion shouldn't have the weight it does in the final sum. We're fighting for that," he emphasised.
These seven municipalities are currently home to around 95,000 inhabitants.
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