The purpose of the visit, as explained by the Government, is to promote trade and economic relations and business synergies between the region of Aragon and Andorra, as well as strengthening bilateral relations. The Andorran delegation to Zaragoza also included representatives of the Actua Program, ADI, and members of various clusters, representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and Andorra Telecom, among others.
The journey started with a breakfast roundtable discussion on the Andorran process of economic opening, introduced by the president of the Government of Aragon, Javier Lambán. Also present were the President of the Parliament of Aragon, Antonio Cosculluela, the assistant representative of the Spanish government, Ángel Val Padilla and members of the Aragon government, the Chamber of Commerce of the region, business organizations, members of the Department of Research and Development at the University of Zaragoza, and representatives of the IDIA (Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación de Aragón). Representatives from the health sector, both public and private, also attended.
Javier Lambán, who referred to Andorra’s history and its ability to adapt to changes, stated how important the changes made in the past few years were, for the future of the Principality. He also expressed his willingness to enhance economic relations and recalled the good relations between the two regions in the field of the Working Community of the Pyrenees (CTP).
The Prime Minister Antoni Martí has expressed the need to strengthen economic ties, social and cultural relations between the autonomous community of Aragon and the Principality of Andorra, and stressed the importance of a better understanding between both realities. Martí mentioned the current changes in Andorra, from being a closed economy and barely diversified, to achieving a normalized tax regime and a modern and open foreign investments legislation. Martí said negotiations with the European Union meant a defining step for Andorra since it will participate in the common european market. He also expressed the wish to strengthen ties and increase relations, not only in economic or trade matters, but also in cultural and human issues, as a result of the opportunities brought by this Tuesday’s conferences.
The Minister Saboya also outlined the works carried out over the last five years to attract foreign investments and diversify the Andorran economy. Saboya defined the transformation of Andorra towards the transparency and the inernational fiscal standardization, allowing the country to sign many bilateral and multilateral agreements. The Minister referred to the economic opening as a commitment made by the Government to make Andorra an open, dynamic and attractive country for foreign investments, also competitive and recognized by international standards.
Many thematic meetings between members of the Andorran delegation and participants from various sectors, such as education, health and new technologies were carried out throughout the day. In addition, a meeting was held between the two chambers of commerce.
The Andorran delegation ended the day visiting the Palacio de la Alfajeria, the seat of the Aragon Government and Zaragoza’s logistic platform.
