The Generalitat de Catalunya and Andorra Business, on Monday, for the first time ever signed an agreement to enhance company competitivity in both territories. The collaboration agreement was signed by the Enterprise and Labor Councilor, Roger Torrent, the Minister for Presidency, Economy and Enterprise of Andorra, and president of Andorra Business, Jordi Gallardo.
The agreement contemplates various plans of action to take advantage of synergies between ACCIÓ -the agency for business competitivity of the Department of Enterprise and Labor – and Andorra Business, the economic promotion agency from the Principality. Therefore, both administrations have established a collaborative framework to foster internationalization, innovation and disruptive technologies among Catalan and Andorran businesses.
According to Torrent, “more and more Catalan companies have growth projects in Andorra, and this alliance with Andorra Business will allow us to support them in this process. The Councilor for Enterprise and Labor highlighted that this agreement “will also offer them the opportunity to increase collaboration with businesses from the Principality in strategic fields such as blockchain, audiovisual production, biotechnology, sports and green-tech, which are all priority sectors in economic diversification for the Andorran government”. In this sense, he added that this collaboration “will strengthen the transformations in the productive model that both governments are promoting and will help us to be more competitive on the global scale”.
For Gallardo, “the agreement will allow Andorran companies to benefit from services offered by the Commerce and Investment Offices of ACCIÓ. From identifying and establishing initial with potential clients and suppliers, to finding the best partners and distribution channels. In parallel, they will also be able to receive support in implanting their business outside Andorra and access personalized studies of foreign markets”.
Equally, Andorra Business will provide support to Catalan companies interested in developing their business activities in the Principality.
From a sectorial point of view, possible joint actions will be studied to enhance collaborative efforts in fields such as medicine, sports and fintech. Furthermore, Catalan technological centers will be promoted among Andorran companies as well as the Catalan technological offer in the fields of Industry 4.0 and sustainability.
In addition, the ACCIÓ delegation located in the Alt Pirineu and Aran will collaborate with Andorra Business to organize business meetings among companies from both territories and on-site company visits as well as looking for collaborations between Andorran and Catalan companies. In paralel, joint sessions will be held to exchange good practices in the field of knowledge exchange.
The development of pilot tests in Andorra by Catalan technology centers and companies will also be worked on within the framework of the ‘Living Lab’ project by Andorra Research + Innovation.