More than 3,500 companies have shared awards totaling €461 from the Portugal 2020 scheme. The infrastructure minister announced his intention that support will reach "at least" €1 billion in 2017.
"These investments will allow us to create another 10,000 jobs, when the projects reach cruising speed, and another €2 billion in exports," said Minister Pedro Marques today, full of optimism that his sterling efforts would be widely reported.
Last year’s European handouts, under the National Strategic Reference Framework, totaled €310 million.
The minister said this year’s €461 million incentive, is an increase of 49% on last year's free money and that he already can state that by the end of 2017 there will have been at least €1 billion handed out under the Portugal 2020 funding scheme.
Should the suspiciously round figure of 10,000 jobs actually be created, as the minister hopes, the cost to the European taxpayer will have been €46,100 per job.
