Begoña García is committed to the agri-food sector and innovation as “a fundamental tool for rural development.”
Agriculture and Food Minister Begoña García Bernal said in Bilbao on Tuesday that the agri-food sector “one of the main instruments of progress in rural areas, which is more than 85% of the entire territory of the country.” He stated this during his speech at the opening of the agri-food innovation fair. Food4Future.
The Secretary of State boasted of a “modern, competitive” agri-food sector similar to that of our country. Spain’s food industry represents 24.9 billion euros and is the destination for 70% of agricultural products. It generates gross value added to the Spanish economy of approximately 10% of GDP and creates more than 2.6 million jobs throughout the chain.
García Bernal argued that the agri-food sector “an ecosystem that can serve as leverage so that everyone can live a better lifeso that youth and women become the spearhead of a transformation that reaches not only the companies and institutions involved, but also rural areas.”
“These rural areas provide us with all the resources, raw materials and traditions, let us not forget,” the Secretary of State said. “Without them, without our people, it is impossible to understand the food and agricultural sector of our country.”
Therefore, according to Begoña García, “it is not only important, but also fair that growth has an impact on our territories.” “The industry cannot lose touch with the territory in which it is located, with its producers, with its gastronomic culture and with its capabilities and potential, so that any innovation launched by FoodTech benefits the countryside.”
As such, the Secretary of State for Agriculture and Food has called for collaboration between all players in the sector. “Depopulated Spain is very much alive, full of talent and opportunity. We just need to do our part.” “Spain is not just Food Nationbesides being the richest country in the world, but we can say without hesitation that we are Foodtech Nation“, completed.
MINISTRY SUPPORT TO THE SECTOR
The Secretary of State indicated that the Ministry is collaborating with the AINIA Technology Center, located in Valencia, with an agreement aimed at consolidating support for entrepreneurs and companies in bioeconomy value chains, with a contribution of 250,000 euros. There is also an intensive acceleration program for developing companies. “AgroBank Tech Digital INNOVATIONS”“, for which the ministry contributes 1.91 million euros.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food also announced collaboration with the CNTA (National Center for Food Technology and Safety) to support and facilitate the development of new companies in the food technology ecosystem, known as Food Technology Challengers. In fact, the application period for this year ended this Sunday and we are going to allocate 300,000 euros, of which the Ministry is contributing almost a third, to improve the technological solvency of 8 new companies in the agri-food sector within six months.
In addition, as part of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRRP), the Ministry of Agriculture jointly with ENISA manages the AgroInnpulso credit line, which focuses on financing business projects based on innovative technologies implemented by SMEs and agri-food start-ups.