Portugal can once again be “relevant” through the sea — DNOTICIAS.PT
The President of the Government of the Azores, José Manuel Bolieiro, considered today that Portugal can once again be “relevant” across the sea via the blue economy, with the Azores playing a central role.
José Manuel Bolieiro, who was speaking at the formal session of the National Engineer’s Day, in Ponta Delgada, said that Portugal is an Atlantic country that “has its projection in the Azores, which makes history a lever for the future”.
“Portugal was great because of the sea and can be relevant again in the world also because of the blue economy, the economy of the sea”, he declared.
The leader of the Azorean executive considered that the Azores confer an “archipelagic dimension to the country and to the European Union”, being able to be “true laboratories of the future too, and above all, with and for engineering”.
The social democrat considered that “if, since always, research and creative capacity, the audacity to innovate has been relevant for the progress of humanity, communities and economies, taking into account the emergence of change” with which the world is confronted , today these missions are “more challenging than at any other time in the past”.
For José Manuel Bolieiro, the climate transition “is the most challenging of all” and “forces to call for prudence, to discover with innovation and training” ways to decarbonize the economy.
According to the official, in the case of maritime work, which depends on engineering and in which “the extreme phenomena of nature will be much more violent”, a “constant monitoring strategy” must be adopted.
The chairman of the Order of Engineers, Fernando Almeida Santos, who also spoke in a solemn session, presented as “three great aims to rejuvenate and modernize the Order, protect engineers and contribute to the development of society”.
Fernando Almeida Santos said that there are more than 200,000 engineering graduates in Portugal, but the Order has 60,000 members, so “something is not right”, which is why “greater attractiveness” is being developed to attract professionals.
The Order of Engineers distinguished as an honorary member of the University of the Azores for its training role, and Paulo Moniz, former head of the organization in the region, with a silver medal. Engineer, professor and business administrator Luís Todo Bom received the gold medal.