The Chambers of Commerce of Northern Portugal, Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, Burgos, Navarra, the Basque Country and Nouvelle-Aquitaine have signed, at the headquarters of the Bilbao Chamber of Commerce, the Declaration of the Chambers of Commerce of the Atlantic Arc, with the aim of strengthening inter-chamber and inter-institutional cooperation mechanisms that contribute to working jointly on the economic, social and environmental challenges faced by the regions that make up the Atlantic Arc.
The Declaration has been drafted based on a shared diagnosis of the main challenges and opportunities for improving the competitiveness of the Atlantic Arc regions and the main areas for cooperation.
Following the meeting, the President of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Services and Navigation of Bilbao, José Ignacio Zudaire, on behalf of the seventeen presidents attending, presented the Declaration to the Lehendakari of the Basque Government and President of the Atlantic Arc Commission, Iñigo Urkullu. The event was also attended, among other institutional representatives, by the Ambassador of Portugal, João Mira Gomes; the Minister of Economic Development, Sustainability and Environment, Arantxa Tapia; and the Secretaries-General of the Chambers.
The signatories are the presidents of the Chambers of A Coruña, Álava, Associação Empresarial de Portugal – Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Avilés, Bayonne, Bilbao, Bordeaux, Burgos, Cantabria, Gijón, Gipuzkoa, Lugo, Navarra, Oviedo, Santiago de Compostela, Torrelavega and Tui. The declaration is open to the adhesion of other Chambers of the Atlantic Arc.
Shared challenges
All signatories share:
- Concern about the risk that the peripheral condition of the Atlantic Arc may lead to a loss of competitiveness, territorial attractiveness and influence. They consider that the centre of gravity of economic activity and innovation is shifting from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and that in the European context, with the incorporation of new countries, the weight tends to shift increasingly eastward. In addition, there is a risk that Atlantic interests may be relegated or insufficiently taken into account by European institutions.
- The will to create a forum for reflection and cooperation on the challenges that the Regions of the Atlantic Arc must address in order to position themselves in a new competitive and social environment marked by uncertainty, where vectors such as talent, energy transition, digital transformation, physical and smart infrastructures and connectivity are key to promoting territorial prosperity.
- The determination to act as facilitators and catalysts so that, with the participation of all stakeholders, the actions and projects identified as drivers for progress toward a more prosperous, inclusive and sustainable space can be launched.
- The conclusions included in the declaration of the Atlantic Arc Commission held on May 23 in Cardiff (Wales), and their favourable response to the call for socio-economic actors to become involved.
Six lines of work
The Chambers of Commerce consider that, due to their nature, their representation of the general interest, and their proven capacity to develop actions to improve the competitiveness of their territories and companies, they can play a relevant role in the construction of the Atlantic Macroregion. Therefore, having analysed the challenges they face, they must work together and in collaboration with entities of all kinds with common interests in:
- Improving connectivity:
- Undertaking the necessary efforts to complete the Atlantic Rail Corridor in due time – with regard to the core network, by 2030.
- Strengthening and adapting rail connections and intermodality along the Cantabrian coast.
- Promoting a collaboration strategy among ports.
- Ensuring that the European interconnection map for hydrogen infrastructure includes by 2030 the Atlantic interconnection of the HiWest corridor.
- Deploying the charging network for electric and hydrogen vehicles to complete a corridor that enables sustainable mobility.
- Deploying 5G networks and services that will enable positioning in sectors such as Industry 4.0, connected and autonomous vehicles, as well as broadband deployment in rural and remote areas.
- Capacity to influence:
- Acting jointly and in a coordinated manner as Chambers of the Atlantic Arc.
- Developing a common brand strategy to better identify and make visible the specific characteristics of the Atlantic Arc.
- Strongly supporting the creation of the Atlantic Macroregion and coordinating with the institutions promoting it, mainly the “Atlantic Arc Commission”.
- Sustainable diversification and entrepreneurship:
- Energy transition and integration of the value chains of marine renewable energies and green hydrogen, while strengthening the Circular Economy.
- Digital transition.
- Blue Economy.
- Demographic challenge and Silver Economy as an opportunity given the growing needs of an ageing population.
- Commitment to Industry 4.0, value chain relocalisation and sustainable tourism.
- Commitment to a food sector that facilitates food security and healthy nutrition.
- Commitment to contributing to European health sovereignty.
- Working on synergies to generate new activities in different areas of opportunity, fostering an entrepreneurial culture.
- Developing entrepreneurship ecosystems through public–private collaboration.
- Sustainability, innovation and internationalisation.
- Promoting the decarbonisation of the economy.
- Strengthening energy management, energy efficiency, self-consumption and sustainable mobility.
- Promoting more efficient water and waste management.
- Establishing collaboration mechanisms in innovation policies.
- Strengthening the strategic and innovation capacity of SMEs; encouraging the use of advanced management models integrating ESG.
- Increasing public and private resources allocated to innovation.
- Promoting business growth when the characteristics of the company and the market make it relevant, and establishing collaborations and alliances among associations/clusters.
- Fostering internationalisation.
- Working to attract investment to the Atlantic Arc.
- Demographic challenge.
- Promoting active ageing strategies and valuing the experience of older people.
- Talent: Attractive territory.
- Activating the necessary levers and policies to create an attractive region, especially for young people.
- Adapting professional profiles to demand and promoting training.
- Encouraging innovation in business policies.
- Promoting collaboration and exchanges between universities and vocational training centres throughout the Atlantic Arc.