The Region exhibits its strengths for economic challenges: "We have a future"
MURCIA. The business fabric of the Region of Murcia has demonstrated its strength during the pandemic due to the muscle of sectors such as logistics or agri-food and solid family businesses. But the ups and downs that are being experienced at a national and global level with the rise in energy prices or the lack and increase in the cost of raw materials are being felt more and more in the Community.
This mixture of positivism and uncertainty can summarize the feelings of several of the main representatives of the regional productive sectors who participated in the 'Murcia Plaza Dialogues' forum. A look at 2022: sectors and companies', organized by this newspaper two years after the launch of Murcia Plaza.
The president of CROEM, José María Albarracín, as well as the president of Proexport, Juan Marín, were present at the meeting; Alfonso Hernández, president of FREMM; Olga García, territorial director of CaixaBank; Javier López, CEO of Hefame; Francisco Cervantes, director of COEC and vice president of APIRM; Tomás Martínez Pagán, president of AEMIN, and Pedro Díaz, president of FROET.
The forum, presented by the manager of Murcia Plaza, Miguel Llobell, and moderated by the director of the newspaper, Francisco Valero, put on the table an economic and business radiography of the Region in which issues as important as the energy crisis, the European Next Generation funds, the need to promote training as a gateway to digitization and the prospects in the short and medium term in consumption and industrial sales.
"We have more future than present but in the present we have a dark cloud over us". These words by Juan Marín, in reference to the perfect storm that there is at the moment due to the energy crisis, and that affect the agri-food sector, had a second part in which it was clearly shown that a solution is to pass on these extra costs to other actors in the chain. And they were endorsed by Pedro Díaz, representative of the carriers, who added that "we cannot continue as we have up to now maintaining the same prices."
But what both of them are clear about is that the Region has potential and that they hope that a little bit of clarity will soon be seen that will lead to a stabilization that will make everything return to normal.
Albarracín recalled that Murcian businessmen are an example at the national level and said he was convinced that they would be able to weather the current situation with a few clouds, although he demanded that the central government take a step forward on issues as important as the labor reform, "which should not touch" and lamented that "there is more dialogue between employers and unions than with the Government itself".
The general director of Hefame, Javier López, highlighted in his interventions that the evolution of recent weeks regarding the situation of the national industry makes him go from being "optimistic to cautious". The pharmaceutical company has been key in the vaccination process against covid due to its logistical potential and López recalled that its powerful facilities were used for this, but it did not go by that there must be regulation and national policies that allow normal development of the activities at a time when "energy expenditure has skyrocketed".
More dynamism in industry and export activity
The territorial director of CaixaBank, Olga García, highlighted the behavior of the economy in the pandemic, which was "more positive" than in the rest of the country. The decline in regional GDP in 2020, she indicated, stood at 6.8% compared to the national average of 10.8%. "That underscores the feeling that we've started the economic recovery earlier." In her opinion, "more dynamism is noted in the industry and in the export activity." The labor market also leaves another favorable indicator: the unemployment rate is two points below the national average. "Affiliation is recovering and ERTEs are being managed in a progressive and adequate manner," she pointed out.
