Oviedo (EFE).- The President of the Principality, Adrián Barbón, has encouraged companies to “consolidate markets” and “explore new frontiers” taking advantage of their potential, but also focusing on science and innovation with the goal of that Asturias becomes an “international reference in biotechnology”.
This was expressed by Barbón in his speech at the inauguration of the Asturex Open Days, a conference that this Wednesday and tomorrow brings together more than 200 companies in Oviedo with the aim of supporting companies interested in starting or expanding their presence in the markets international.
Barbón, who has praised the ability of Asturian companies to compete in a global market, recalled that Asturias, which has 647 companies that export regularly, achieved a historical record of sales abroad between January and November of last year, with a growth close to 20 percent, up to 5,714 million euros, a volume that exceeds the previous trademark registered in the whole of the 2021 financial year.
All this in more than 290,000 commercial operations carried out in the first eleven months of last year, almost 100,000 more than in the previous year.
Strength of the Asturian business community
“The merit belongs to the companies, not to the Executive”, stressed Barbón, who has valued “the strength of the Asturian business community, so often called into question”.
Barbón has pointed out that the Government’s “obligation” towards companies is to “pave the way for them” and “facilitate their activity as much as possible”, an objective in which the conferences organized by Asturex are framed, “the largest event designed for help the Asturian business community to start or consolidate its internationalization”.
The head of the Asturian Executive, who has reviewed Asturex’s operating program for 2023, has stressed that international promotion in Europe is “always a priority”, but has stressed that the focus will also be placed on other countries that offer many opportunities and that are of interest to Asturian companies, such as Mexico, Peru, Chile, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Morocco, Senegal, Ghana, Kenya or Tanzania.
Barbón has highlighted the potential and experience of Asturias in areas such as the manufacturing industry, the metal-mechanic sector, the agri-food activity or engineering, but has remarked that “it must also promote other activities”.
In this regard, it has stressed that science and innovation are the “key to the future” and for this reason Asturex will promote the export of the biotechnology sector with a series of activities that will serve “as a starting point for a group of companies with a promising international projection”.
“We have to work with the goal of making the Principality an international benchmark in biotechnology,” Barbón stressed. EFE