The Business Agency for the Transformation and Economic Development of Andalusia (Trade) will activate its first support instruments for Andalusian companies before the end of this year. This was announced yesterday Wednesday by the Minister of Economy, Finance and European Funds, Carolina España, at the inauguration of the fifth edition of the Andalusia Investors Day forum, organized by El Confidencial in Seville.
Trade will become the large economic entity of the Andalusian Government after the complex integration of Extenda and IDEA, which has made its implementation difficult since the project was announced in 2021.. The agency aspires to become the one-stop shop for the Andalusian public administration to facilitate collaboration with the private sector and represents Juanma Moreno's greatest commitment to the business community and the attraction of investments.. Only in foreign investment projects, Trade hopes to attract projects of more than 11,000 million euros in Andalusia, a community that has already broken its foreign investment record in 2022, with 1,265 million euros.
The agency is the result of the merger of the promotion agency Extenda, with great prestige for its track record, the IDEA agency, the Knowledge Agency and Andalucía Emprende. In the coming years, once the operation is completed, it will be able to put around 1,000 million euros on the market between direct subsidies and financial instruments. To this end, a business financing plan will be activated between 2024 and 2027 that covers all phases of the projects, with amounts of 450 million euros for financial instruments and another 100 million specifically for R&D&I projects..
“We want to turn Trade into an ally between companies and investors,” said Carolina España, who presented the progress in this agency at the forum, a meeting point for investors in which the current situation in Andalusia was analyzed from the perspective of energy and water, two keys to the economic development of the community. “We have brought together those who know the most about energy or water consumption to go from theory to practice and look for solutions,” explained the director of El Confidencial, Nacho Cardero, during the presentation of the event..
The drought represents the main threat to the Andalusian productive sectors and could have an effect of more than two points on the Andalusian GDP. The economy would grow this year above 4% in the community if there was enough water, according to the Junta de Andalucía, which expects a final growth of around 1.9%.. In response to climate change, the Minister of the Treasury defended her commitment to economic development based on “the green economy and sustainable development.”.
The Andalusian Government intends to redirect Next Generation funds to allocate them to hydraulic works, as well as to demand new extraordinary lines in Brussels to carry out this type of actions. Sectors such as agriculture, industry or tourism are already being affected. “Andalusia is the territory of the European Union most vulnerable to climate change and drought, and that uniqueness must be recognized,” said counselor Carolina España..
The launch of the Trade Agency will be fundamental in the Board's strategy, which aims to continue attracting investments to Andalusia to combat climate phenomena. The counselor highlighted several projects of the Government of Juanma Moreno, such as the Andalusian Alliance for Green Hydrogen, which will turn Andalusia into an international benchmark in gas production; the three drought decrees approved worth 300 million euros, or the investment of 4,500 million contemplated in the hydrological plans.