Monday, March 4, 2013

Annual General Meeting 2013 – a participation success.

On the 21st of February the Annual General Meeting of AENB and the 6th edition of the nautical awards ceremony took place. Around hundred participants between associates, nautical entrepreneurs and the representatives of the Balearic Government turned up for the occasion. Náutica Rossello received the award for “The Most Oustanding Trajectory”, Metalnox for “The Longest Membership” and the Direction General of the Commerce and Business was recognized as “The Most Collaborating Public Entity in 2012”. 

Round of talks.

At 16.30 the rounds of talks started. On one side Carlos Sanlorenzo from ANEN outlined the spanish Law of Navigation and VAT related issues, while David Gomez went through with the english speaking members the principal challenges AENB faces in the future. The eagerly awaited ´Speed planning´by Pere Jiménez from IDI rounded up the talks. 

Annual General Meeting. 

The General Assembly started after the rounds of talks. The President of AENB, Margarita Dahlberg, acknowledged the difficult times the companies are facing at the moment, but was delighted about the show of unity demonstrated by those present at the meeting. President Dahlberg explained that “Balearics is one of the most beautiful destinations of the whole of the Mediterranean to practice recreational yachting” and that “we offer a varied supply of nautical products and highly professionalized services”. “But little does it serve us to be the best if the public administrations continue to hinder us with fiscal and bureaucratic obstacles” she announced. 

On the other hand, Dahlberg conceded that “the current Government is showing more sensitivity towards our problems and certain progress is happening”. She also mentioned the upcoming Palma Boat Show, assuring that “it is an investment in the future of our sector and will also benefit other sectors like hotels, restaurants and entertainment”. 

As already customary, The President of CAEB, Josep Oliver closed the Assembly reminding the participants of the importance of the nautical sector for the balearic economy. Oliver charged against the Matriculation Tax that is applied on vessels over 8m in Spain only, and other new taxes, that according to him “hinder the economic recovery” and “favour the relapse of the consumption and activity, causing more unemployment, more social costs and more deficit. To finish off his address, Oliver congratulated the new Board of Directors of AENB. 

The gala dinner. 

Around 20.45 the various political and nautical authorities started to arrive to the venue. In the gala dinner participated the Minister of Economy Josep Ignasi Aguiló, the Autonomic Secretary of Business promotion and Occupation, Lourdes Cardona, the Director General of Commerce and Business, César Nuño Pacheco, the Director of Fairs of IDI and the Palma Boat Show, Chema Sans, the President of CAEB, Josep Oliver, the President of the Chamber of Commerce of Mallorca, Joan Gual de Torrella, the Maritime Captain of Palma, José Escalas, the President of the Federation of the Balearic Nautical Enterprises (FENIB), Tomeu Bestard, the Chief Inspector of Radio, Ronaldo Narváez and the Maritime Chief Inspector, Eduardo Comas. 

After the dinner the President of AENB, Margarita Dahlberg, gave a brief outline of the work done during the past year and the future challenges. In her address she praised the involvement of all the assistants in the nautical sector and assured that this unity “makes us stronger in the face of adversity”. Dahlberg declared that the Balearics are “one of the most beautiful destinations to practice recreative yachting in the Mediterranean” thanks to the quality and variety of the products and services on offer. “But little does it serve us to be the best if the public administrations continue to hinder us with fiscal and bureaucratic obstacles”, she pointed out. Although the current Government of PP is more sensible towards the issues of the nautical sector, she reminded the authorities present that “we have still a long way ahead to reach legal and fiscal harmonization with the rest of Europe”. 

After the speech the VI edition of the nautical awards ceremony of AENB got underway. The award for “The Insitution that most collaborates with the nautical sector” was handed to the Direction General of Commerce and Business, for its input in strengthening the role of the Organizing Committee of the Palma Boat Show and for the creation of the Nautical Sector Working Group. The recognition in the category “Longest Membership” was awarded to Metalnox, members of AENB since 1993. The award in the category “Most Outstanding professional Trajectory” was given to Náutica Rosselló. Sebastiá Rosselló dedicated the award with some touching words to the memory of his late father and the founder of the company, who sadly passed away recently. 

The Minister of Economy, Josep Ignasi Aguiló, closed the act with some words of apreciation to the award winners and thanking for the prize awarded to the Direction General of the Commerce and Business. Aguilo emphasized the need of collaboration between the public and private sectors in order to invigorate the economy. He assured additionally that the new model Palma Boat Show “could be the enblem of the change, the symbol of the transformation”.

No comments:

Post a Comment