The Government delegate in Galicia, Pedro Blanco, reiterated to companies and leaders of the agri-food sector of Galicia the commitment of the Government to the advancement and modernization of this sector, as a way to promote the dignification of rural Galicia and its economy.
The delegate recalled the role that the agri-food industry has in sustaining the rural world and in its social, economic and demographic progression during the closing of the X Meeting with the food industry, organized today in A Coruña by the Vegalsa-Eroski Group. An event in which he was accompanied by the mayor of A Coruña, Inés Rey; the president of the Diputación de A Coruña, Valentín González, the president of MERCASA, José Miñones, and by the subdelegate of the Government in A Coruña, María Rivas.
In front of a large group of managers of companies in the sector, Pedro Blanco reviewed the measures approved by the Government in recent years and that translate “into the greatest amount of public funds ever mobilized by a Government for this industry”, and that the Government executes on the basis of “permanent dialogue and cooperation” with companies, associations and collectives of this industry. This volume of funds comes from adding the Recovery Plan, the new CAP and the support measures established in the face of the crisis of raw materials and the rise in prices, and responds to the “recognition of the essential, strategic and State character of this sector”, which last year exceeded 70.4 billion euros in exports.
More competitiveness and sustainability
Pedro Blanco reviewed some of the challenges facing the agri-food sector, including “climate change, changes in consumer demands, trade flows or food security.” And he pointed out how the government and industry are allies to maintain their protagonism. A process that, the delegate explained, “necessarily involves increasing competitiveness, increasing sustainability and food traceability and safety.”
In this way, the delegate highlighted the contribution of the Strategic Plan for Recovery and Transformation of the agri-food sector or PERTE agri-food. After pointing out that this PERTE “is the best example of cooperation between the public and the private”, he highlighted that, to date, 14 agri-food companies in Galicia are already participating in innovative projects financed with this PERTE: “Four tractor projects in which the dairy sector and the wine sector are the protagonists, which mobilize more than 62 million euros together”, he added.
“Above the speeches and debates, despite the noise, these figures prevail, the real investments in projects, more ambitious or more modest, which give us the encouragement to continue working,” he concluded.