The General Director of Industry of the Ministry, Manuel Valle, gave a conference this morning in the auditorium of the Heracles Building in the Free Trade Zone in which he informed Cádiz businessmen about the reindustrialization in the Bay of Cádiz and the Reindus aid for companies, the application period for which opened last Monday. Manuel Valle also visited the offices of the Free Trade Zone and signed the Book of Honor.
Manuel Valle was accompanied at the table by the Director of Operations of ENISA, Angel Palazuelos, the State delegate in the Free Trade Zone, Jorge Ramos, the president of the Provincial Council, José Loaiza, the deputy mayor of the Cádiz City Council, Ignacio Romaní, the general secretary of the CEC, José Luis Ferrer, and the president of the AJE, Jose Andrés Santos.
The State delegate in the Free Zone, Jorge Ramos, welcomed the attendees and thanked the general director of Industry and the Ministry for the help they provide to companies and added that in the Free Zone "we have the mission of facilitating companies' implementation by creating productive spaces."
In this sense, the provincial president of the PP, Antonio Sanz, who was also present at the event, highlighted the importance of the meeting taking place in the Free Trade Zone, “because it is the economic engine of the province.” and defined it as a large industrial enclave.
Manuel Valle explained the Reindus aid in detail and pointed out that now is a good time to invest and added that “we are going in the right direction, especially in the search for job creation.”
He then explained the details of the aid, detailing the new features of this year (the ten-year term, the interest rate at 3.062% and the 10% guarantee that does not have to be a guarantee).
Valle highlighted the Ministry's efforts and encouraged entrepreneurs to benefit from the aid, whose deadline to request it is until July 3.
Next, Angel Palazuelos, ENISA's Director of Operations, spoke, explaining that those SMEs that do not meet the requirements for Reindus aid, due to the limitation by sector, turn to ENISA loans. These are participatory loans, associated with long repayment periods and with variable interest depending on the company's results.
On June 7, thirteen calls corresponding to the financial support program for industrial investment for 2014 were published in the BOE, of which eleven correspond to the line called “reindustrialization program.”“ and two to the “industrial competitiveness promotion program.” The order of bases and specific call for the granting of financial support for industrial infrastructure programs in Free Zones will be published soon.
The competitiveness promotion program provides support to investment plans to improve competitiveness that are proposed by companies in any industrial sector, so as to enhance the evolution of beneficiary companies towards new, more advanced, efficient and environmentally friendly production models, and towards the manufacturing of products and the provision of services with greater added value that allow them to access and increase their presence in international markets and create jobs. This year it has three specific lines: manufacturing industry, endowed with 275 million euros; aerospace, endowed with 23.5 million euros and motor vehicle manufacturers, with a budget of 100 million euros.
The reindustrialization program supports the creation of new industrial establishments, increases in production capacity or relocations that industrial companies decide to undertake to gain competitiveness. The total amount to be granted in 2014 will be 347 million euros. Its scope of application is the entire national territory, although it maintains specific calls for certain geographical areas affected by industrial and/or socioeconomic reorganization processes. In the case of the province of Cádiz, there are two territorial calls included in the reindustrialization program: the Call for the Bay of Cádiz, with a budget of 61.8M€ and that of Campo de Gibraltar, with a budget of 26.3 M€.
The improvements introduced in previous editions in the management of the program are consolidated, such as a single application window and unification of the procedures to follow in both lines of action of the program (reindustrialization and competitiveness of industrial sectors). Likewise, the term for carrying out the financed investments is 18 months from the granting resolution.
The financial support will take the form of loans of up to 75% of the financeable budget with an interest rate that will range between 3.062% and 4.53% depending on the classification of the beneficiary, with a repayment period of ten years, with the first three years being a grace period. The supported projects must be financed with private funds in a minimum amount of 25% of the eligible budget and guarantees of 10% of the amount of the loan requested in cash or bank guarantees will be required.