- The government delegate assures that “the Government of Spain is together with the companies that work to be competitive and bet on innovation and sustainability”
- The first call of the PERTE Agri-food has approved 53.4 million euros for projects of Catalan companies
Miralcamp. Lleida. December 17, 2024.- The delegate of the Government in Catalonia, Carlos Prieto, visited, this Tuesday, accompanied by the subdelegate of the Government in Lleida, José Crespín, the fishing company Argal in Miralcamp (Lleida). The company has received 14.1 million euros from the PERTE (Strategic Project for Economic Recovery and Transformation) Agro-food of the Ministry of Industry and Tourism.
Prieto has defended that “the Government of Spain is together with the companies that work hard to be competitive and bet on innovation and sustainability”. It has highlighted the projects of Catalan companies that want to improve their efficiency “by promoting renewable energies or the digitalization of industrial processes, among other measures.”
He said this in statements to journalists, after visiting the facilities accompanied by the president of Argal Group, Antonio Escrià, the director of the Miralcamp plant, Xavier Balcells, as well as other managers of the Leridana factory.
AGRI-FOOD PEARL
The Argal plant in Miralcamp, where fuets and longanizers are produced, is one of the group’s four factories in Spain and has a workforce of about 450 workers. The delegate was able to get to know first-hand the ‘Carnity’ project led by Argal Group in which 15 other companies from 11 autonomous communities participate with the aim of promoting innovation for the ecological and digital transition of the càrnic sector throughout the country, as well as its associated value chain.
In particular, the group of elaborate càrnics is working on more sustainable packaging lines to reduce the carbon footprint throughout the production process, as well as on reducing emissions to increase environmental protection parameters.
It is financed with 14.1 million euros (13,342,887 euros in the form of a grant and 791,755 euros in the form of a loan) thanks to the first call of the PERTE Agroalimentary, a program managed by the Ministry of Industry and Tourism within the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) of the Government of Spain aimed at strengthening the development of the agri-food chain and promoting its modernization, sustainability and digitalization.
MEAT INDUSTRY
The delegate said that “the path to a successful transformation of our companies necessarily involves public-private collaboration.” Prieto stressed that the PERTE Agro-food is “one of the tools put in place by the Government of Spain to economically accompany companies in one of the most powerful, entrepreneurial and capable sectors such as the agri-food sector”.
He also added that the farming industry “will be strengthened” because it will be “more sustainable, more competitive and innovative” thanks to all the projects already under way that are being carried out in almost all autonomous communities”.
53.4 MILLION FOR CATALONIA
The first call of the PERTE Agrifood approved grants worth 183.6 million euros for a total of 292 projects of 233 companies. Catalonia is the autonomous community that has received the most aid in this first call with a total of 53.4 million euros.
The second edition of the PERTE Agroalimentarius, pending resolution, is endowed with 100 million euros initial in the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, an amount to which 200 million more will be added in loans derived from an addendum that the Ministry of Industry and Tourism will make public later.