Catalonia aims to generate up to 25% of its PIB through the industrial sector by 2020

Barcelona (ACN).- The Catalan Government wants up to 25% of the Catalan PIB to come from the industrial sector by 2020. This is the main objective of the new strategic plan of the executive to boost the industrial sector and turn it into an essential element of the economic recovery of the country. The Catalan President, Artur Mas, met on Friday up to 2.000 members of the business and industrial sectors and urged them to work together with him in order to help the recovery.

The Catalan Government has presented a new strategy to help up to 7 important industrial sectors such as chemical, energy and resources, design, sustainable mobility or healthcare. Those sectors will have, by September, a team of experts that will include members of Government and the most important companies, and will prepare strategic plans to help them develop further. Companies will have the strongest roles within those groups, in order for them to be the ones dictating the way to follow.Artur Mas said that now that the economic recovery is just starting to be “tangible,” the country needs to come together to make it stable. According to Mas, a strong industrial sector will help Catalonia to have a “strong, sustainable and solid” recovery. The Catalan President said that industrialists and businesspeople need to make use of the infrastructural advantages of Catalonia, such as the soon to be Mediterranean corridor or the growing airport of Barcelona.

Mas also highlighted that Catalonia has the capacity to attract very good professionals from abroad that want to move to the country because of the attractiveness of Barcelona and some of its other towns. Similarly, the President stated that Catalonia has good educational and training centres, and more and more young people speak other languages and are prepared to work in a competitive environment.

The Catalan president said that Catalonia and its industries should try to make full use of its advantages, while admitting that there are also problems. For example, the lack of powers of the Catalan government and its dependency on Madrid in some key areas such as fiscal or labour policies.

“We cannot have a proper labour or fiscal policy. We have little room for manoeuvre. We are not allowed to intervene, either, in important energy decisions. We can do some things but many of the big issues do not depend on us”, he admitted. For all that, he urged the industry and the Government to work together to make full use of what they do control.