The Atlantic Arc Chambers of Commerce - Northern Portugal, Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, Burgos, Navarre, the Basque Country and New Aquitaine - share the need to strengthen our cooperation in order to face the great challenges that we as a society must respond to.

This challenge has to do with our peripheral position and demographic weight.
Geographically, we are outside the major development axes, so in this situation one of the keys to competitiveness is connectivity. Infrastructure and smart logistics bring us closer together.

This challenge has to do with a less innovative productive fabric, with a lower level of openness and a smaller size of enterprise compared with the European average. In addition to taking advantage of new opportunities, it is necessary to consolidate and develop the existing productive fabric.

This challenge has to do with the need to incorporate higher value-added activities that help us increase productivity and consequently GDP and well-being of citizens. We must seize the opportunities that arise from major transformations: ecological, digital and demographic; and the relocation of some supply chains.

This challenge has to do with a clear trend towards an ageing population: lower birth rates and high life expectancy. This is a real challenge to the maintenance of our welfare state, but it can be transformed into an opportunity for development.

This challenge has to do with the need to attract and retain talent in order to respond to all of the above challenges. We have an attractive environment and a good quality of life, but we need attractive professional projects.