Sitting in the auditorium that became the basketball court of L'Alqueria del Basket yesterday, the members of the Valencian Association of Businessmen (AVE) listened to the economist and political scientist Miguel Otero, principal investigator of International Political Economy at the Elcano Institute, say that "the microeconomics is doing better than expected and is generating business".
The audience had already previously agreed with this idea, since in the survey that the partners had answered during the general assembly held yesterday, they assured with a majority percentage of 75% that they think that "2023 will be the same or better than 2022 in terms of economic".
The climate is one of optimism, as can be deduced from the assessments made yesterday by the AVE partners, a total of 180 large companies, which employ 290,000 workers and which, together, invoice the equivalent of 63% of the GDP of the Valencian Community . The fact that they answered yesterday that 94% of the partners will maintain or increase employment in 2023, of which 62% will increase it, speaks of this positivism.
All in all, although there is optimism there is also concern, since the economic environment that most worries AVE members is inflation and the rise in interest rates, the main challenge faced by their companies being to maintain competitiveness in a context rising prices, another of the conclusions left by the survey. This was also seen in question time at Otero's conference, since both Adolfo Utor, president of Baleària, and the textile businesswoman Dolores Cortés asked about the context of war. The hotelier Antonio Mayor, former president of Hosbec, was more direct on an issue that directly affects tourism: "How many months does Brexit have left?"
The interactive survey through which associates have conveyed their views on current issues also shows that these large companies are not benefiting from the Next Generation.
As they responded yesterday, 80% of AVE partners do not participate in any project financed with European recovery funds, and most do not do so for "reasons of inaccessibility, lack of information and clarity."
In a political key, the AVE partners assured that what worries them the most is "political instability in Spain" and once again suspended the political class, from which they ask for political but also institutional stability, as well as policies to promote the creation of employment, business and economic activity.
Later it was also Vicente Boluda, its president, who pointed out that "it is necessary to lower the tone of permanent tension that occurs in political-institutional life." A message that did not fall in vain because President Ximo Puig was listening, but also the Government delegate Pilar Bernabé, the Minister of Finance Arcadi Spain and the presidents of the Provincial Councils of Valencia and Alicante, Toni Gaspar and Carlos Mazón, respectively. There was also Maria José Català, spokesperson for the PPCV in the City Council and the Corts Valencianes.
