North Portugal and Galicia want to assert themselves as a strong economic space

O North of Portugal and Galicia (Spain) want to assert themselves as a strong and competitive economic space in Europe and the world, placing high-speed rail transport (TGV) as a priority for this goal, has been released today.

“ We should look at the Euroregion [Galiza-North of Portugal] as an economic space with the potential to strengthen its position in European and international value chains”, said the president of the North Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR-N), Álvaro Santos, in the Competitiveness Polo – Euroregion Forum Galicia–North Portugal, which took place in Vigo, Pontevedra province, Galicia, Spain.

In the first place of the “schedule of common priorities for the next decade” of the Euroregion, coordinated by the CCDR-N and the regional government Junta da Galicia, is “rail connectivity, in particular the high-speed Porto-Vigo connection”, which “should be seen as a structural investment in the competitiveness and cohesion of the Northwest Peninsula”.

The following is “the appreciation of the Atlantic position, through greater integration of port infrastructure, logistics platforms and rail freight links”, because “the strong industrial and export vocation of the territories justifies a more articulated logistics strategy”.

Complementarities between Galicia’s and North’s productive structures should be used “to promote cross-border value chains, joint business projects and greater ability to attract investment”.

In innovation and knowledge, it is necessary to deepen “cooperation between universities, technological centres and companies, with particular attention to technology transfer and its impact on productivity”.

Alongside this there must be a strengthening of the capacity for joint intervention with the European institutions.

The president of CCDR-N recalled that the North “has a diversified business structure, with strong industrial expertise, an important exporting tradition and skills recognized in sectors such as metallomechanics, automobile, technical textiles, new materials and industrial technologies”.

On the other hand, Galicia “has consolidated competences in the automotive industry, shipbuilding, maritime activities, logistics, energy and various technological areas”.

It adds that Galicia and Northern Portugal “represent together more than 6.5 million inhabitants, more than 657 thousand companies, a Gross Domestic Product of more than EUR 167 billion and almost three million people employed”.

It is an economic and demographic area “with a dimension comparable to that of several Member States of the European Union, with sufficient critical mass to play a more important role in the European economy”.

It is important to “organise resources, promote complementarity between productive systems and create conditions for companies to develop activities of greater added value,” he said.

One of the main challenges is “the need to increase the productivity of economies”.

“ Although they have relatively close global economic dimensions, Galicia and the North continue to show significant differences in output per inhabitant, with Galego GDP per capita around 30% above that recorded in the North Region,” he said.

According to Álvaro Santos, “this difference demonstrates that economic convergence depends, above all, on the capacity to modernise productive systems, the incorporation of technology, the qualification of human resources and the evolution of companies to activities of greater added value”.

“In the case of the North, this is a central priority,” he assured, sustained that it was necessary to “improve productivity levels and the ability to create wealth”, to “ensure that economic growth translates into better wages and greater ability to attract and retain talent,” he said.