The Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations of Metal (Confemetal) has launched this Thursday its new 'hub' Value Chain of Defense of Spain, as reported in a statement.
This working group will serve to articulate the institutional and business participation of the metal sector at the national level in the field of defense, considered "one of the areas with the greatest strategic, technological, and industrial projection for Spain and Europe."
The new platform is born with the aim of consolidating a business ecosystem with its own dynamism, paying special attention to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The intention is for it to become an effective tool for metal companies that already collaborate with the defense sector or wish to do so, promoting cooperation, knowledge transfer, and the creation of new business opportunities.
PRESIDED OVER BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE METAL FEDERATION OF SEVILLE
The initiative will be led by the president of the Federation of Metal Entrepreneurs of Seville (Fedeme), Francisco Javier Moreno Muruve. The 'hub' is born with the vocation of consolidating itself as a useful integration instrument within Confemetal.
This has been evident in the participation of more than 30 territorial and sectoral organizations from across the country in this first meeting, where existing initiatives such as the 'Hub' Defense Andalucía, the Defense and Aeronautics Industry Commission of Madrid, the Aeronautical and Space Ecosystem (AeroS) in the province of Barcelona, or the Industrial Association of Dual Technologies of the Region of Murcia (Indutec) have been put on the table.
The president of the 'hub' has emphasized that "Spain faces a historic opportunity to strengthen its industrial capabilities in defense and security." "We want to work so that industrial SMEs are an active part of that process, eliminating access barriers, strengthening the value chain, promoting business collaboration, and contributing to a more competitive, innovative, and strategically autonomous industry," he has pointed out.
90% OF DEFENSE COMPANIES BELONG TO THE METAL SECTOR
The creation of the 'hub' is based on the specific weight that the industry, industrial services, and technologies linked to the metal sector have within the national defense ecosystem and its value chain.
Specifically, around 90% of the companies operating in this environment belong to the metal sector and, for the most part, carry out their activities under the umbrella of the State Collective Agreement of the Industry, New Technologies, and Services of the Metal Sector (CEM), whose negotiation is led by Confemetal.
In this context, the 'hub' starts with a roadmap aimed at strengthening the presence of the defense value chain in the defense and security ecosystem, both nationally and internationally, with Confemetal as the main interlocutor of the metal sector.
Among its priority action axes are the strengthening of dialogue channels with the Ministry of Defense and with the other administrations and institutions involved, as well as the coordination of that interlocution within Confemetal to convey the common position and the transversal objectives of the sector throughout the country, respecting territorial and sectoral autonomy.