The Govern has announced the creation of a one stop shop, dependent on economic promotion department Action, to serve the companies affected by the supply crisis. The measure aims to make international trade specialists available to SMEs to help solve problems related to international transport, rising prices and the scarcity of raw materials. Acció’s forty offices around the world will be coordinated to solve logistical problems and provide supply alternatives. In addition, the plan has foreseen allocating 100 million euros from the Institut Català de Finances (ICF) through various loan lines to Catalan SMEs that must face liquidity problems caused by this crisis. The financing proposal of the ICF may count on aid in the form of a guarantee of up to 80% by the Department of Business and Employment.
The ‘conseller’ of Business and Employment, Roger Torrent i Ramió, announced this Wednesday in Parliament the creation of this single window by the agency for the competitiveness of the company of the Department of Business and Employment. “We find ourselves in a very complex scenario that threatens the competitiveness of our companies, and although we do not have sufficient skills to attack the causes of this crisis, many of which are global, we have done and will do everything in our power to help Catalan companies”, said Torrent.
The initiative wants to benefit SMEs that have registered increases in transport costs, shortages of raw materials, delays or that want to optimize routes or look for new logistics operators, Torren detailed during his speech in Parliament. The planned services focus on the possibility of consulting experts on barriers that companies encounter when sourcing abroad due to the increase in international transport prices, the scarcity of raw materials and components or delays in deliveries. . It can be issues at origin (on issues such as labeling, packaging or delivery times) or at destination (certificates, authorizations…).
If companies require the search for new suppliers due to price increases or failure to meet delivery deadlines, Acció offers to search for equivalent suppliers both in Catalonia and in any country. An alert system has also been planned to warn companies of existing or foreseeable problems in certain areas.
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Report
The problem in the supply of global value chains and price increases is one of the main risks pointed out in the ‘Analysis of Risks and Global Trends for 2022’ made by Acció. This report analyzes the different scenarios that the world will have to face and the 15 risks that the Catalan economy must face in 2022 as an open economy inserted in international trade flows. The report points out the consequences in Catalonia of the profound global transformation caused by the pandemic, the context of climate emergency, the increase in geopolitical tensions and social inequalities. Thus, the document points out risks for the Catalan economy such as technological and energy vulnerability, cybercrime, inflation, the supply crisis or the vulnerability of emerging markets, among others.
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