Roger Torrent (Sarrià de Ter, 1979) has been traveling the world for two weeks looking for investment. He believes that the reindustrialization of Nissan will be a success despite the new obstacles that have appeared. He rejects the ultra-liberal policies of the Community of Madrid and recalls that this autonomy “flags tax cuts, but has two more points of unemployment.”
Will the reindustrialization of Nissan end well?
It will be a success. In fact, it already is. We have the experience of Silence, which has already been implemented in a part of the space occupied by Nissan.
Will the central government accept the guarantees of the Catalan Institute of Finance for the hub?
It is incomprehensible that now the Ministry of Industry does not respond positively to these guarantees and puts so many obstacles to a project that has to be key to reindustrialization.
Is there not too much concentration of public risk (Perte and ICF) in the case of the hub?
If we really want our own leading companies, the public administration has to bet on strategic sectors that these leading companies can generate and, therefore, it has to bet on projects that can be key in this regard. And there is also a part of private guarantees.
Wouldn’t it be better to wait for the Chinese Chery car factory project?
With possible investors we try to be very prudent, among other things because there are confidentiality contracts.
But is there land for Chery if they cannot be installed at Nissan?
Catalonia is absolutely prepared to receive any investment in any industrial sector, especially in the most strategic ones.
And the hub, is it strategic and is it a tractor?
Definitely. It is a project that has to help decarbonise and the production of electrified automobiles.
Did you come to think that Seat’s investment would not be made?
The part of the electric and connected vehicle has not been managed well at all and has generated frustration. And we cannot afford that, because it obviously puts key projects at risk. The fact that only 30% of the available resources have been executed shows how the Perte has been managed.
Will the Generalitat give more aid to Seat?
We beyond Perte have been working for months with seven help lines to support the Seat Future Fast Forward project, that of manufacturing the electric car in Catalonia.
The Cisco project raises doubts due to its opacity.
The information will be given when the company wants to give it, not before.
Will they manufacture in Catalonia or will they only design?
We are working to incorporate the field of semiconductor production.
When can you decide?
Well, it’s already decided. I am convinced that more proposals related to Next Generation funds and semiconductors will be finalized in the coming months.
Will Catalonia have a battery plant?
We are interested in having a foot in the battery value chain. We have Iljin but we want to go further, obviously, and therefore we are interested in working on the battery aspect and on other projects that are related to the entire value chain that goes from battery design to recycling.
Is there interest in investing in Catalonia?
Today ACCIÓ has 600 investment projects open in Catalonia. This contrasts with what President Sánchez said last week, when he said that investments like those of Cisco or Seat would not have occurred in 2017. Certainly, seeing the police beating up citizens who want to vote or a State that accuses and sends To imprison political leaders, for crimes that do not exist in Europe, does not help foreign investment in our country.
Does the escape of corporate headquarters help?
We have always said that we work to make Catalonia a relevant country. We offer the possibilities of Catalonia to all companies in the country and also to those from abroad who want to come.
But would it be better if the venues returned?
Obviously the more companies bet on Catalonia the better. We have 9,155 foreign companies in Catalonia and we want to reach 10,000 soon. Our purpose is also to help Catalan companies to consolidate their projects in our country and facilitate their growth.
Is taxation a problem?
I believe that what we have to do is dismantle certain topics. Today, within the Spanish State, Madrid is the one who carries the flag of deregulation, of lowering taxes, of the ultra-neoliberal model. But Madrid has two more unemployment points than Catalonia.
A report published this week by Professor Oliver argues that the industry’s weight loss is moving Catalonia away from the locomotive regions of Europe.
We are the Government of reindustrialization after too much time wasted in this regard. For too many years, we have been too passive in this sense and we have assumed that neoliberal discourse that was adopted at some point in Europe and which came to say that the best industrial policy is the one that does not exist. We are exactly the antipodes of that. This Government is the Government of reindustrialization. Currently, the industry represents 20.3% of our gross added value. We have grown in the last two years and we plan to reach 25% in 2030. Precisely for this reason we have approved the National Pact for Industry, which plans to mobilize 3,000 million euros for this purpose and 152 very specific actions.
Will the budget pick it up?
Undoubtedly, because this is a commitment of the Government as a whole and it is demonstrated by the National Pact for Industry, which is obviously a transversal tool within the Generalitat, but has also been agreed upon with parliamentary groups and social agents. Therefore, it is the result of agreement. Therefore, it is a country document, not a party, not a government document.
Are you hurt with Junts, which has even blocked a decree to increase the resources allocated to Salut?
It is an absurd attitude. First, because everyone is aware of the need to have levers, not only the 2023 budgets, but decrees such as the one that supposes an injection of resources into the health system. The country is not at this time for partisan battles. I think we have to be above that and we have to be aware of what we are at stake, also taking into account that the budgets have been worked on by a Junts minister.
Will your department make a new camera law?
We are working on a law together with the Chambers Council.
From the outset, a decree must be presented to be able to vote
We are working on the new one.
Doesn’t the previous one work?
Well, there are some aspects that have been annulled in the courts. Therefore, the decree has to be revised.
