The Business Confederation of the Valencian Community (CEV) yesterday presented its particular Letter to the Three Wise Men, a list of priorities (25) and business proposals to be taken into account by candidates for the next local and regional elections.
There is distrust in the deadlines and in the promises that the political parties make in these pre-electoral times, which in the case of Valencia or Castelló also coincides with visits by national officials to the Fallas or Magdalena festivals. "We want them to commit to this territory because it is giving a lot of strength to the economy of this country," CEV president Salvador Navarro said yesterday.
Among the commitments they are asking for is planning the execution of priority infrastructures, reviewing budgets and "real" deadlines, topics that they will discuss at the next meeting to be held in April between the Valencian employers' association and the Government -with the presence of a member of the Consell- to review the execution of the infrastructures in the Valencian Community. The meeting also contemplates a follow-up of budgets, as Navarro pointed out yesterday that "the fact that the Government has forgotten to invest in Alicante shows the carelessness that has taken place on their part."
The concern of the business sector for the execution in infrastructures is manifest and not only in terms of state powers. Although yesterday he praised the agility that the Minister of Mobility Rebeca Torró has impregnated with the renewables files, Navarro also explained that they have proposed creating a commission on investments in infrastructures that the Generalitat Valenciana has or will have in the coming years, to supervise its fulfillment.
And among the infrastructures, for the CEV there are two that are capital. In the south, the expansion of the Alicante Airport, for which Navarro requested a second runway "to be able to compete" and the connection with the railway, "because it seems to us that everything is going very slowly in the Torrellano variant."
The other is the expansion of the Port of Valencia, "the only jewel in the crown that we have left," said the president of the businessmen and women. Here the reading that he did was more political, taking into account the resistance that there is on the part of Compromís and Podem, partners of the Botànic, to carry it forward.
Asked if he expects the extension to be approved before the end of the year, Navarro replied that "perhaps yes, if Vice President Díaz does not cause more problems." He pointed out that this is a "necessary investment for businessmen and Valencian society" and although he assumes that "Compromís and Podemos will put pressure", he acknowledged that "I hope that this policy that blocks some territories and relieves congestion in others does not happen here".
As for the other measures, worked on by a total of 1,000 businessmen and women in the different commissions that make up the CEV, the first of the claims is the reform of the financing model and a cancellation of the historical debt. "I have said it and I reaffirm it: we Valencians can feel second-rate Spanish because we continue to be so both for the Government and for the opposition, the responsibility belongs to both", he pointed out. He also cited yesterday the recovery of the Valencian Civil Law, in whose claim the CEV participated a few weeks ago.
Regarding taxation, the CEV calls for "lightening the tax burden and making the tax burden equal to that of other areas and regions, at least within our country." In this regard, Salvador Navarro said that "I wish this community had a fiscal competitiveness", an issue that he recognized as the distance from the position of the Consell, who instead applauded its latest tax reform.
