Honourable president; Mayors, authorities; ADEPG president; ladies and gentleman. Good evening. We welcome to Sitges all those coming from all over Penedès counties, those that we want to be part of the future Vegueria del Penedès.
I want to specially greet the President of the Catalan Government on his first official visit to Sitges. Thanks President, it is an honor to have you with us. Welcome to your home. I also want to thank the Association of Employers of Garraf, Alt Penedès and Baix Penedès for choosing Sitges to hold the current edition of Business Night. Our main revenue comes from tourism; most of our entrepreneurs work in this sector and the service sector. So if I may, I will focus my words in this sector. I will step ahead of events to congratulate all those companies that today receive an award for their business career. Congratulations to everyone!
Our country has a diverse and heterogeneous industrial fabric. Agriculture, fishing, food industry and traditional industry. A wide range of services and small businesses ... and many, many freelancers.
President, I think you must know that some counties are making great efforts to achieve the economic recovery of the area, while at the same time making an extraordinary contribution to the recovery of Catalonia. According to the 2015 index of competitiveness of the association, we are in the twelfth place and climbed steadily since 2003 ... we are one of the leaders in business and employment recovery with increases above 4% on average year.
Garraf, in particular, ranks as the second county with people holding degrees and the third with highest proportion of people working in highly skilled professions. Our clear commitment should be the sector of vocational training. President, we are deeply committed with the governance plan that we presented recently... Therefore, we are at your disposal to expand vocational training in our county.
Despite the difficulties of recent years, we have more good economic news. In one year, the number of freelancers has increased by 3%. We are therefore an enterprising county that is growing in all areas. The county showed an unemployment rate of 17% in March, more than two points below last year. I must stress that in Sitges we are just over 12%.
I have another example of improved economic activity. Sitges granted in 2014 a total of 545 business licenses and in just a year we climbed to 713. Nearly 200 more in just one year. These recovery figures are the result of our common effort. But special efforts made by the businessmen and businesswomen in the region. We are referring to small and medium enterprises that have suffered greatly in the worst time of our economic recession, and that have survived thanks to their effort and tenacity.
During these years, and still today, municipalities and local authorities tried to take steps to further business activity and modernization, while being well aware of the situation, and, above all, to generate and maintain employment. In short, to create wealth for our people.
However, despite initial positive data, we know that we continue to go together in everything that affects us all. We must continue to go together in one of the most important claims of the Great Penedès: infrastructures... The toll of the C-32, essential for our competitiveness and for our everyday living.
Garraf and Penedès claim for a free motorway. We have no direct access to the metropolitan area other than windy curves along Garraf's coasts. Territorial rebalancing goes through all this process.
As we are aware that it will not be immediate, we believe that it will be an outrage not to obtain a significant reduction.
I'm not making an isolated claim, is a vindication of all the counties beyond political options; as is the improvement of rail services, bearing in mind that only in the Garraf county, 50% of the population needs to leave the county for work.
The municipalities can establish tax incentives to create programs to support entrepreneurship, employment plans, aid for self-employed.. (that we do and we will do, to help create wealth and welfare)... but there are issues that escape us such as infrastructure and cost. Authorities are working to serve citizens and we try to interiorize the claims that come from different sectors. It is increasingly evident that we must network and also ... that society works best when networking.
Therefore, social return is very important for our business world. The world changes, and if companies do not give back to society what society gives them, we will break the fabric. The concept leading to the social return on investment is now spread throughout the world and must not be an alien idea in our environment. Companies have to be competitive, but also socially competitive... There are already many business schools that abound in the social return concept as key to obtain benefits. Therefore, I ask you to be innovative and commit yourself for social return.
I will put an example of a subject on everyone's lips. The Government of Catalonia and municipalities prepare a list of what citizens, businesses and organizations can offer to Syrian refugees. Because the drama of the refugees does not leave anyone indifferent, moves you and you become enraged with this Europe. City Halls are preparing themselves to receive refugees, but all of us can offer our help in different ways. We already did that? We will do it? This is also social responsibility. As is the everyday life in our country, our villages, towns and cities.
The adaptation of the company to social environment is paramount in the tourist industry. Sitges is a tourist town but we are also very concerned about our environment. We have sixteen kilometers of coastline and a mountain range that is one of the most outstanding natural areas of the country. So we decided to make a clear commitment and ask for a Biosphere certification backed by Unesco ... that means: environmentally friendly tourism and sustainable tourism.
This we have to do it necessarily with the help of the business sector of the city. The City Hall alone is not enough. Are we interested? Yes, absolutely. Yes, for the preservation of the town, but also because all of you are interested... And they are interested because we need a qualitative leap to remain a town known worldwide as a tourist destination, respecting the environment and the people.
We must therefore be jointly responsible for all. I ask you to make a clear commitment for social responsibility in our counties.
And finally, one last thought - a personal request. We must also be jointly responsible with our country. Policymakers are often urged to become involved, to defend the interests of society, to become involved in decisions even if they are daring. Nothing to say, it is our responsibility.
Many Mayors like me are doing it from their City Halls. Also President Puigdemont, our government and parliament. But we are in dire straits. That is why I ask you to watch everything from a national perspective. We are a great nation with a historical significance. So help us enlarge our history and our great country.
Many thanks to all, congratulations to the winners again and enjoy dinner. Good night.
