The regional agri-food sector advances intractably in the markets and preaches in an exemplary way, with union and without fissures, its natural ability to adapt to challenges, such as the announced cut in the Tajo-Segura Transfer, the increase in production costs, inflation and water scarcity. Behind the strength of this industry, made up of thousands of women and men who demonstrate their passion for agriculture and livestock every day, is the historical support of Santander, which acts as a watchtower providing them with advice, financing and tailor-made solutions.
The bank chaired by Ana Botín is a reference in the agri-food sector, as confirmed by its more than 425,000 agricultural and ranching clients nationwide, of which more than 12,500 are from Murcia. In fact, it injected 4,200 million euros into this activity in 2022, 11% more than the previous year. Added to this are other specific products, whose common denominator is digitization and sustainability.
In the Region, the entity has one of the most important networks of professional clients, and yesterday it was revealed in the third edition of the Agro Santander Forum held in Murcia, with the aim of taking an x-ray of the current situation, assembling points of view and join efforts. The event, organized by LA VERDAD and sponsored by the bank, brought together more than a hundred regional agricultural professionals to follow the opinions of a panel of experts from the world of business, associations and banking.
JAVIER CARRION / AGM
The president of Proexport, Mariano Zapata, opened the turn of the round table taking stock of the 2022 financial year, highlighting the increase in production and marketing costs and the episodes of meteorological phenomena that caused a decrease in the volume of raw materials. «As we are very seasoned, all the problems have been solved; we are here more alive than ever », he exclaimed with gratitude. He contributed that the Region sold products worth 4,000 million euros last year, of which 3,000 million were for export.
The protagonists
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Mariano Zapata. President of Proexport
“The central government applies all the regulations and regularizations from the most extreme and most negative side” -
Lorraine Ruiz. Director of the Agri-food Business of Santander Spain and Europe
«In less than a year of life of the ‘Agro Smart Fund’, endowed with 500 million, we have already consumed a quarter» -
Jose Miguel Marin. President of COAG-IR
«The primary sector is the only one that can guarantee the food sovereignty of a country and a society» -
Felix Garcia. Kimitec CEO
«15 years ago we had the vision of changing the way of producing, going from chemical to natural»
Zapata, during his speech, glimpsed a somewhat dark horizon due to “the regulations and regularizations that are on the way”, relying on “the 1,000 pages that the central government has published in the BOE for the agricultural sector.” “They tell us that everything comes from Europe – he added – and he applies it from the most extreme and negative side”. He gave the example of the ban on the use of phytosanitary products for soil disinfection established by the EU, to which countries such as Portugal and Italy have established a series of exceptions, while Spain has not taken any type of measure in this regard. “Don’t tell us milongas,” he snapped.
Proximity and active listening
For her part, Lorena Ruiz, Director of the Agri-Food Business at Santander Spain and Europe, emphasized the bank’s proximity and active listening to its customers: “Our team will continue to be by your side in the coming years,” she repeated. The ‘Agro Smart Fund’ emerged from this communication at the beginning of last year, endowed with 500 million euros that Santander launched so that companies in the sector can expand their investments and undertake new growth projects, transformation of farms, digitization and employment creation. Likewise, it allocates up to 20% of the resources to invest in the capital of these companies so that they gain dimension and competitiveness. “In less than a year of life, we have already consumed a quarter,” she expressed with satisfaction.
The board of directors also highlighted the bank’s commitment to the transition towards a more digital and sustainable economy, going hand in hand with its clients to start this transformation. As an example, Santander has recently entered into the capital of the Kimitec group from Almería and its MAAVi Innovation Center, the largest ‘hub’ in Europe for the change from chemical to natural. With this agreement, it seeks to add biotechnological value to its portfolio of agro-industrial clients and “without losing profitability,” he added.
real solutions
Kimitec researches and develops solutions to deal with two tsunamis, compared its CEO, Félix García, that of natural chemicals (such as pesticides in agriculture and hormones in livestock) and that of real sustainability. The company, which emerged in 2007 as a ‘start-up’, applied to the regional sector to be “more productive and more profitable”, through strategic plans. One of them concerns how to replace sodium metabisulfite (sulfites) in frozen shell-on shrimp and prawn varieties that arrive in Spain from Latin America, given that this molecule is one of those that the EU is contemplating banning. “Either you put an alternative, or you kill the sector,” he said.
Ángel Rivera: “Without companies, there is no wealth or employment”
Ángel Rivera, recently appointed CEO of Santander Spain (a position that he will hold from February 1), was in charge of inaugurating the third edition of this sectoral forum, highlighting the figure of the businessman: «Without companies, there is no wealth or job”. He sent a message of positivity, “despite the important storm clouds” such as inflation and the rise in interest rates. Even so, he glimpsed a hopeful horizon, given the “gradual decline in inflation in Spain and Europe, which is going to cause the rise in interest rates to moderate. However, we can see some increase in interest rates between now and the summer, because when they rise, the impact on inflation usually takes nine months », he argued.
The manager, who maintained an optimistic tone during his speech, clearly said that the increase in interest rates for companies does not have to spoil their business models, since if they have any structural problem, the financing will not have to be what prevents them from continuing to function. As for families, the impact on the economy is different, he stressed.
He also encouraged taking advantage of the European ‘Next Generation’ funds, for which Santander offers a comprehensive service to request the available aid, and said goodbye with a forecast of the Spanish economy, of which he calculates a “slowdown in 2023, with the two first quarters weaker than what we have experienced in recent years, but we do not see a recession or a deep crisis, “he calmed down.
Thus, the agreement between Kimitec and Santander seeks to boost the international growth of the Almería-based company (“we are growing in double digits every year,” said García, adding that “in three years we will go public together”) and that the bank is present in the biotechnology sector.
Greater protection
The president of COAG-IR, José Miguel Marín, asked for a breath of fresh air for the agri-food sector, which has to support the decrease in agricultural income at the same time as production costs increase. Likewise, he called for long-term water planning and criticized that initiatives such as the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) “are carried out on bureaucratic bases without going down to reality.” Even so, “we have a strong and powerful industry in the Region of Murcia,” he presumed, to then emphasize that the primary sector “is the only one that can guarantee the food sovereignty of a country and a society.” In line, Marín insisted on “inoculating” the political class that the primary sector is strategic: “We are, but this set phrase is not being applied, they do not see us as such.” Even with everything, he mentioned the achievement of agriculture in favor of sustainability, through research and knowledge, because “we have to adapt to the new scenario,” he complied.
To close the sectoral meeting, Luis Rodríguez de la Fuente, territorial director of Santander in the Region of Murcia and the Valencian Community, took the floor, recalling that the bank injected 2,100 million euros into Murcian companies last year. In addition, he stressed that the entire human team of the bank is available to the agri-food sector, to which he proposed “to enter insurance (stone fruit, table grapes, citrus …) and payroll.”
López Miras appeals to business and social unity to stop the transfer cuts
The voice of the president of the regional government, Fernando López Miras, was one of the most anticipated at the Agro Santander Forum. He began his speech by thanking the bank for its commitment to the Region of Murcia, because at the same time “you are right”, since “we are the community with the greatest possibility of a future in the medium and long term.” For this reason, he vindicated the role played by the agri-food sector in the current situation, marked by the “maximum uncertainty at the international and national level” and now added “obstacles that depend only on political decisions that could be avoided or cause less damage ».
In this regard, he echoed the protest in Madrid in defense of the Tagus-Segura Transfer that was held this Wednesday, warning of the effects of the cut that the Tagus Hydrological Plan brings with it “for the whole country.” «If Spain does without the fruit and vegetables that the Transfer irrigates, will there be enough? And if there are, at what price will they be? This is something that a government that must guarantee food sovereignty must ask itself, “he inquired.
He stressed that “we are not going to give up and the battle is not lost, but we must all defend the Transfer as something that no one can delegate to Madrid.” “We want to raise awareness in Spain of what the most supportive infrastructure means and that has contributed the most socially and economically to the country in the last 44 years”, for which he asked “not to fall into discouragement”, given that “due to the Lack of technical guarantees that the cut has, the central government has time to reflect and reverse its decision, “he confided.
Because losing the Tagus-Segura, according to López Miras, would mean the loss of more than 25,000 direct jobs and up to 100,000 indirect ones, as well as 18,000 million euros in fruit and vegetable exports that Murcia, Almería and Alicante currently produce. And even that for the 1.5 million inhabitants of the Region, the water that falls from the tap becomes a “luxury item”.
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