The Confederation of Entrepreneurs of Galicia (CEG) has valued Indra's commitment to As Pontes (A Coruña) as "excellent news" for the "reindustrialization" of the community, highlighting its potential to "generate qualified employment, attract auxiliary industry, strengthen the technological ecosystem, and boost the competitiveness of Galicia."
In a statement, the business organization has expressed its satisfaction that the company has definitively chosen As Pontes as the location for a new military vehicle manufacturing plant, considering it "one of the largest industrial announcements" in Galicia since the closure of the Endesa thermal power plant.
The CEG details that the project involves an approximate investment of 18 million euros and the creation of between 70 and 120 direct high-skilled jobs, to which indirect employment linked to suppliers and associated services will be added.
For the employers' association, the decision to locate the factory in As Pontes offers several advantages: the recovery of already available industrial land "after the decline of thermal activity"; the boost to the Ferrol-As Pontes-Vigo axis as a corridor for technological and defense industry; the reinforcement of existing industrial assets in Galicia; and the fact that it "fits with the increase in European defense spending and the industrial policy promoted by the Ministry of Defense."
In this context, the president of the CEG, Juan Manuel Vieites, has recalled that the entity has been demanding industrial initiatives capable of replacing the lost activity after the closure of the thermal power plant for years and has called for "administrative speed, adequate infrastructure, and a continued support strategy" for industrial investment.
Vieites has also emphasized the "pull effect" that the project can have on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). "We especially value projects that generate local supply chains. And in this case, it is foreseeable that opportunities will be generated: for metallurgical companies; engineering; industrial maintenance; logistics; and digitalization," he pointed out.
The head of the CEG has also highlighted the importance of taking advantage of the already existing industrial infrastructures in As Pontes and the "strengthening of Galicia as an industrial hub." "The CEG advocates for a Galicia with greater weight in high value-added sectors," he insisted, emphasizing that an initiative of this type "would reinforce this argument."
At the same time, he has reiterated the "need to expedite" administrative licenses, the "improvement" of logistical and energy infrastructures, a "professional training adapted" to the new industrial profiles, "regulatory stability" to attract new investments, and the "utilization" of European funds along with public-private collaboration.