The Mayor of Funchal, Miguel Silva Gouveia, met, this afternoon, with the president of the Commercial and Industrial Association of Funchal – ACIF, Jorge Veiga França, and several other representatives of the association and the regional business sector, in order to promote cooperation and proximity policies between the Municipality and the businessmen, in order to minimize and overcome the economic crisis generated by the covid-19 pandemic.
Miguel Silva Gouveia explained that “this was a consultation carried out by the Municipality of Funchal, in order to establish closer contacts with the municipality’s business fabric in its various areas, such as restaurants, traditional trade, hotels, industry and accommodation among others, realizing their concrete concerns and the real difficulties they face in this time of uncertainty in which we all live ”.
The president announced, on the occasion, to the representatives of ACIF, that the process of implementing a Tourist Tax in Funchal was suspended by the municipality, “since the conditions for this process to progress are not met at this moment, there being for now, not a definite date for the return to this topic ”.
At the meeting, the members of the delegation were also presented with the initiatives created from the ground up by the CMF to support the local economy, and which have been implemented in the last two months, such as the Mercado em Casa, the Itinerant Sale, the Comércio à Serviço platform, and the provision of drafts of a contingency plan for companies in the municipality, with the holding of information sessions for entrepreneurs.
Finally, the municipality undertook to evaluate in the coming weeks several concerns expressed by representatives of the sector, and to present solutions that meet their expectations and that promote the economic well-being of the municipality.