Andorra plans to become the leader of economic activity in the Pyrenees. The Head of Government, Xavier Espot, affirmed categorically the desire to play “a leadership role in the environment” that ends up turning the Principality into the “engine of the Pyrenees region”. Espot expressed the Andorran road map in the context of the 34th edition of the Business Meeting in the Pyrenees, which reached a participation record.
In the presentation given by Xavier Espot at La Trobada, in La Seu d’Urgell, the Cap de Govern, he pointed out that, “once we are part of the European internal market, synergies can be explored with neighboring Catalan regions or French border departments ”. Espot, who presided over the closing of the event, stressed that the association agreement with the European Union (EU) will open up new cooperation scenarios and new opportunities for collaboration between Andorran companies and professionals and the rest of Europe.
The importance of Andorra in the economic axis of the Pyrenees acquires more relevance after “the process of internationalization, opening and modernization of the economy that has been carried out in the last 15 years, as well as the framework of institutional and political stability of Andorra” . All of this has contributed to the fact that the Principality is currently “the second economy in Europe with the highest growth rate”.
Espot focused on courage –one of the axes of the Trobada– as responsible for the results in Andorra. “There has been a good dose of courage to put a tax system in place for the first time in the country.” And also to develop until reaching the end and reach an agreement with the EU “that will give us our place in Europe, with a similar status to Norway or Iceland.” In addition to courage, Espot also wanted to refer to talent, as stated in the title of the Trobada (Lead today: talent and courage). In this sense, he highlighted the virtues of the social, business and economic fabric, especially during an unforeseen situation such as the covid, from which “Andorra emerged stronger” thanks to courageous challenges such as innovation and digitization.
In his speech, Xavier Espot wanted to emphasize the talent exhibited by Andorran business initiatives due to their capacity for internationalization and diversification. “Talent comes from people and companies, what politicians must do is create the right framework for people to fill it with content,” he said.
The business event in the Pyrenees had a record attendance, with 700 participants. Josep Serveto, president of the event, highlighted the event as a space that “responds to the main concerns of the business fabric in an incomparable environment to strengthen both personal and professional relationships.”
The inauguration of the Trobada was carried out by the president of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Pere Aragonès, who made some references to the Catalan economy and highlighted the importance of the Pyrenean axis, which he considered “a key infrastructure for the territory and one of the great challenges to improve their competitiveness”. Aragonès, in relation to Pirineo 2030, identified the necessary challenges that must be faced, such as the absence of affordable housing, sustainable forest management, establishing its own mobility model, guaranteeing generational renewal in the primary sector, promoting green energy for have self-sufficient populations and “redefine the tourism model, which needs to be seasonally adjusted and which must go from having ski resorts to mountain resorts that are viable all year round.”
The business highlight was led by the leaders of the Ibex, Fluidra and Aena companies. Fluidra dominates the market for connected pool and wellness equipment and solutions, with a presence in more than 170 countries and a turnover of 2,400 million euros. Under the title Ibex: the challenge of leading the world market, Eloi Planes, its president, indicated the international vocation of the company and stressed that “a company cannot be global if it is not local in all the territories where it is located and has employees Of the territory”. Planes took a tour of the stages that a company whose vocation is to lead the world market in its segment must go through. In his opinion, the hardest moment is the beginning. Then they must come with the right decisions, use the right talent, entrepreneurship and adapt well to changes. But above all, “you must have a strong local identity, since you are not a global company if you are not local,” explained Eloi Planes.
For his part, Maurici Lucena, president and CEO of Aena, stated that it is currently “the largest airport company in the world and quite different from the second”. The prestige that the company enjoys worldwide comes, according to Lucena, despite the complexities that it represents for a company to have a shareholding whose 51 percent is from the Spanish Government and the rest is private, among which stand out “the funds largest investment banks in the world.
Among the strengths that distinguish Aena, Lucena pointed out the networking for the management of all the airports that are in its radius of action. “It is an extraordinarily efficient formula.” This management model contrasts with the one defended by supporters of taking management from the territory, alluding to the wishes of the Generalitat de Catalunya to be the Administration that controls the Barcelona airport. Aena, in data, entered 4,700 million euros in 2019 and the capital contribution to public coffers in a single year exceeded 1,000 million euros.
José Manuel González-Páramo, former member of the executive committee of the European Central Bank, president of European DataWarehouse GmbH and professor at IESE, gave another outstanding session of the Business Trobada in the Pirineu. González-Páramo gave the conference The return of inflation and stability. Some lessons for central banks, and he explained why such high inflation records have been achieved. “What has happened in the last two years is a phenomenon unknown to those younger than 50.” In his opinion, pandemics are usually deflationary but the Covid-19 pandemic has been different: it was dealt with by stopping activity, although there were government measures that slowed the decline. Despite the indicators that point to a decline in inflation, González-Páramo believes that underlying inflation is still to come and that “the European Central Bank will carry out two new interest rate hikes before taking a break.”
La Trobada was closed by Miquel Iceta, Minister of Culture and Sports of Spain. Iceta highlighted the historical trajectory of the business event in the Pyrenees and reviewed Spanish economic policy. “We are in a very good moment that should continue.” For the minister, the course chosen “is giving good results in terms of growth, job creation and inflation reduction, and also in the objective of reducing our deficit and debt.” He stressed that his government, within the European framework, has been “able to control inflation more than other countries” and that the growth forecasts for the country “are also positive”, with higher quality employment growth compared to the last year.
The Business Meeting in the Pirineu has been held since 1990 and arose to give voice to the economic and business sectors of the area. Creand Crèdit Andorrà has supported the event as a sponsor since 2006 with the aim of promoting economic relations between Andorra and the Catalan Pyrenees area.
