The aid to the transport of merchandise, keys for the competitiveness - The Province

The general director of the Cabinet of the Vice Presidency of the Government of the Canary Islands, Luis Suárez, highlighted on Tuesday that compensation for the transport of goods has been a fundamental aid for the growth of companies that, thanks to them, have been able to access new niches of market competitively.

Suárez was in charge of inaugurating the ninth session of the Atlantic Logistics and Transportation Exhibition, SALT 2018, held at the Chamber of Commerce of Lanzarote, and in which different experts participated in the subject that analyzed the regulatory and financial framework of this type of subsidies in the archipelago.

Together with him, they presided the day 'The frame of the aid to the transport of commodities' the second vice president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Ángel Vázquez, and the president of the Chamber of Commerce of Lanzarote, José Torres.

"Anchored in the new REF, which is pending approval, the compensation of 100% of the extra cost of transporting goods by the State allows to increase the competitiveness of companies and advance the internationalization of the Canarian economy," said Luis Suarez, that highlighted the opportunities that this measure opens for those companies that want to make the jump to the national or international market with guarantees.

He also added that on the part of the regional government, other actions are being developed, such as the Canarias Aporta program,aimed at encouraging commercial promotion, business training, exports of goods and services, participation in international tenders and establishment abroad.

For his part, José Torres stressed the objectives pursued with the celebration of this day on the island of volcanoes, before the demand of local companies, to "shed light on the process and processing of these aids, and that the complexity is such that only the largest companies request them. "

For the president of the cameral entity, "it is necessary that all companies have real access to these aids, that they democratize." And is that, in his opinion, another of the impediments that causes that in 2016 only 10 Lanzarote companies have accessed them is the uncertainty that is generated around the concession or not of it, which is difficult to translate the help in the retail price.

During the day, the speakers agreed onthe right of Canarian companies to compete on equal termsthan the rest of the State, taking into account the condition of the outermost region that the Canary Islands have and the need to protect an industry that has many obstacles to its development.

Alonso Fernández, president of the Canary Islands Transport and Logistics Cluster, who collaborates with the Government of the Canary Islands in the organization of SALT 2018, highlighted the importance of these conferences to advise the companies of the Archipelago, especially in relation to technological development applied to the sector.

For her part, Lucía Merino, director of the Promotion Area of ​​the Government Delegation in the Canary Islands, outlined the situation of compensation for the transport of goods for industrial and agricultural products, making a review of the current regulatory framework and the evolution of the system. In this context, he stressed that the total amount collected in the state budgets for these grants exceeds 83 million euros.

He also highlighted the need to extend the deadlines and simplify administrative procedures and documentation to be submitted by the companies interested in these grants.

Closing the round of talks, Carmen Luz González, Head of the Economic Relations Service with the European Union, detailed the special regimes that exist in the Islands, specifically the Specific Tariff Measures (MEA) and the Special Supply Regime (REA), within the POSEICAN, remembering that the amount for 2019 is more than 62 million euros and its purpose is the supply of agricultural products.

The SALT 2018 is an initiative of the Government of the Canary Islands, through the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, led by Pablo Rodríguez, and the Canarian Cluster of Transport and Logistics.