The first meeting of the Nautical Sector Working Group

The first meeting of Working Group of the Nautical Sector took place recently. The principal representatives from the nautical sector, AENB amongst them, directors of the various departments of the government and other members of the public administration participated in the meeting. The objective of the Working Group is to make a diagnostic of the current situation of the nautical sector, listen to the sector´s concerns, recognize the challenges and to establish a plan. We AENB representatives left the meeting with a good feeling and believe it can mark a new beginning for the Balearic nautical sector.

The Secretary of Business Promotion and Occupation of the Balearic Government, Lourdes Cardona, and the Director General of Commerce and Business, César Pachego coincided in pointing out the nautical sector as a strategic sector for the Balearic economy for its potential for growth, generation of wealth and jobs.

Pachego added that the representatives of the Government “will leave the meeting with a long list of homework to do. From this point on we will establish an agenda together for short, médium and long term, to advance on all the fronts discussed today.”

During the more than 5 hours of the discussions, the 6 large áreas of work that were planned in previous meetings were approached:

• Taxation: Pedro Álvarez (AEGY) displayed the negative effects of the Matriculation Tax and the need for the local government to put pressure on Madrid to eliminate it.. Tomeu Bestard (FENIB) talked about the the need to harmonize the taxation that affect the sector and to rationalize the tax rates.
• Normative and Administration of the Public Sector: Miquel Arrom (FENIB) and Mariano Orell (CICCP) approached the momentum and rationalization of the port concessions while Rafael Palmer (ACNB) talked about the legislative and administrative disarray that the sector suffers from.
• The role of the infrastructures: Cristina Marí (ANADE) y Miquel Suñer (ACNB) gave a presentation of a supposed increase of investments if new concession periods were admitted. Santiago Orfila (CIN) talked about the infrastructures in the Port of Palma and to finish off Carlos Garau (CICCP) dealt with the problems in the management of the anchorages.
• Sustainability and development: Miquel Arrom (FENIB) tackled the problem of recycling of abandoned ships. Carlos Garau (CICCP) followed suit with the issue of improving the quality of the sea wáter. Luis Comenge from the association of the diving centres concluded this block, suggesting some changes in the marine reserves.
• Business, Comercial and Tourism Promotion: Pedro Palou (FENIB) talked about the necessity to implement consensus-based strategies to boost the sector, as well as the necessity to obtain real data to be able to elaborate those strategies.
• The role of profesional training: Margarita Dahlberg (AENB) displayed the need to have a suitable médium and higher level Professional Training that will serve the companies in need of professionals, as well as to make these degrees compatible with the professionals that have no formal education but years of work experience in their field.

When the conclusions of the meeting are published, we will inform our associates without delay.

In the meeting participated from the business sector Margarita Dahlberg (president of AENB), Pedro Álvarez (AEGY), Bartomeu Bestard (president of FENIB), Miquel Arrom (legal adviser of FENIB), Mariano Orell (CICCP), Rafael Palmer (ACNB), Cristina Marí (president of ANADE), Miquel Suñer (president of ACNB), Carlos Garau (CICCP), Luis Comenge (president of the association of diving clubs of Mallorca and Pedro Palou (Manager of FENIB). On behalf of the Government and Public Administration participated the secretary of Business Promotion and Occupation, Lourdes Cardona; the director general of Commerce and Business, César Pacheco; the director general of Ports and Airports, Antonio Deudero; the director of The Employment Agency of The Balearic Islands (SOIB), Francesca Ramis; the director general of Environment, Neus Lliteras; the managing director of The Tax Office, Alberto Roibal; the director of the Balearic Tourism Agency (ABT), José Marcial Rodríguez; Luis Hernández, from the Tourism Department; the manager from the Department of Professional Training and Professional Qualifications, Carmen Oliver and Juan Carlos Plaza, from Demarcation of Coasts.

Amongst the objectives that the Working Group is striving to are: to act as a stable fórum of consultation and debate between the nautical sector and the Administration; to inform the sector about the policies and proceedings of the Administration when it comes to nautical issues; to organize, promote and give support to initiatives of the sector with the aim to strengthen its competitiveness; To collaborate with the Administration in elaborating and executing improvements; to encourage the economic activity with opportune promotional actions and to consider, analize and propose solutions to the structural and conjunctural problems of the sector.