The United States has carried out "for the first time in its history" a trade mission with a region instead of a country, with Andalusia being selected. Thus, a score of North American companies in the Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) and renewable energy sector meet in Seville on June 1 and 2 with 50 Andalusian firms in this field to start investment and export businesses.
In this framework, the Minister of Economy, Innovation and Science of the Junta de Andalucía, Antonio Ávila, held a meeting on Wednesday with the current Secretary of the Interior of the United States, Ken Salazar; the Undersecretary of the International Trade Administration (ITA), Francisco J. Sánchez; the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Europe of the Department of Commerce of the Federal Government of the United States, Juan Verde, and the congressman for the State of Texas, Salomón Ortiz.
The reverse trade mission, organized by the Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Science together with the US Chamber of Commerce in Spain (AmChamSpain), brings together North American companies that are among the 500 firms with the greatest global weight, among which are AT&T and Cisco, as well as government agencies such as the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), dependent on the U.S. Department of Commerce, and business associations in the ICT sector such as Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership (HTTP).
Among the Andalusian ones are large firms such as Isotrol, Magtel, Sadiel, Orizom, and other smaller ones or dedicated to sectors indirectly related to ICT such as teletraining, marketing or the so-called 'Green IT', some firms that have been selected by the US Chamber of Commerce in Spain for their suitability for exchange with companies in the North American country.
The Secretary of State for Europe of the US Department of Commerce stressed that in the first contacts American companies have already found "opportunities, areas of collaboration and, even, there has been talk of concrete projects". "There are many North American companies interested in exporting to North Africa and are committed to developing strategic alliances to enter those markets and also in the rest of Europe from Spain and Andalusia, which has a lot to offer," he says.
Thus, he underlined his interest in Andalusia, especially in energy efficiency and renewable development companies, especially in solar thermal, wind and photovoltaic, and valued the "significant number of Andalusian companies with an existing technological base". In addition, he recalls that his Government is set to go from six percent of current clean energy to 20 percent in 2025, "a very ambitious goal"
For his part, Ávila stressed that "this meeting will constitute a solid basis on which to intensify the already existing commercial relations between Andalusia and the United States". "The majority of Andalusian trade is carried out with Europe and we are interested in the entire internationalization process being related to the North American economy," he explains, after recalling the 70,000 jobs in Andalusia linked to ICT and renewables, something that would help "consolidate the economic recovery in which we are engaged."
In addition, he insists that Andalusia has a "broad sector but capable of cooperating with each other", as would be the requirement to face projects of a certain dimension such as those that the US could request. "75 percent of the Andalusian ICT business is with the private sector, despite public support, and two-thirds have cooperative relationships between companies," he concludes. COLLABORATION AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE ANDALUSIAN ICT EMPLOYERS AND THE USA
In this context, the Association of Information and Communication Technology Entrepreneurs (Eticom) and the Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership (HTTP) have been the first to formalize a collaboration agreement to promote cooperation between companies and entities from both countries. This signature establishes a general framework agreement for mutual exchange between Andalusian and North American companies very aimed at the Spanish-speaking market.
As explained by the president of Eticom, Adolfo Borrero, there has been a growth of the Hispanic community in the US that represents "an interesting gap of penetration in a market as interesting as the US". Thus, it points to the important Andalusian development in digital content, video games, electronic books and high-quality training content.
UNION OF TECHNOLOGIES TO CHANGE THE WORLD
For his part, the congressman for the State of Texas, Salomón Ortiz, has been "moved" with the technology seen in Andalusia and has made it clear that "it is our responsibility to come out with that technology to solve the problems that exist in the world." "The world is getting smaller with the technology developed. If we can unite American technology with Andalusian technology, we can change the world," he concludes.
In the same vein, the member of the Democratic Party and former US representative for the 23rd district of the Texas Congress, Ciro Rodríguez, has valued the Andalusian technological infrastructure and the education of its population around the issues and has insisted that there are "a large number of Andalusian companies that can help American companies working together". (EUROPA PRESS) See original.
