A total of 12 companies, including five from Extremadura and seven from Portugal, signed on 25 February the statutes of the Extremadura-Portugal Business Council (CEEP), a non-profit body for coordination and collaboration between economic agents operating in the territory of Extremadura and Portugal, whose purpose is to seek synergies, promote development in their domestic markets, as well as in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries, and improve Portuguese-Extremaduran business relations.
The incorporation ceremony, held in the Siglo XXI Building in Badajoz, was attended, in addition to the twelve companies, by the President of the Regional Government, Guillermo Fernández Vara; the Portuguese Secretary of State for the Valuation of the Interior, Joao Paulo Cantarino; and the Government Delegate in Extremadura, Yolanda García Seco, among other authorities, such as the mayors of Badajoz, Francisco Javier Fragoso; of Campo Mayor, Ricardo Pinheiro; and of Elvas, Nuno Mocinha, as well as the Consul General of Portugal in Seville, Joao Queirós.
The board is made up of the Extremaduran companies Mafresa, Arram Consultores, Vegenat, Transitex and Cajalmendralejo and the Portuguese companies Grupo Delta, Grupo Luis Simoes, MSC, Acquajet, Banco Caixa Geral, Novo Banco and BA Glass.
The CEEP will hold regular meetings, preferably developing its activity in Extremadura and Portugal, and is intended to be able to provide advice at the request of the institutions and to be able to make proposals on its own initiative.
The Director General for External Action of the Regional Government of Extremadura, Rosa Balas, said that this was an important event, after months of gestation, and that a non-profit organisation had been created to develop its activity as a collaborative structure in economic, commercial, promotion and development matters, "not only in its domestic markets, but also in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries", the latter objective, she said, being one of the major ones achieved through European territorial cooperation.
He also stressed that this is excellent news for companies in the region, as the council will favour the articulation of new forms of collaboration and the possibility of maintaining continuous contact between companies from the two countries.
It is important for the region because, for Extremadura, Portugal is a priority country in the field of external action, not only because of the excellent data on our trade transactions, in which Portugal is the main destination for our exports, but also because of the important bonds of affection that proximity and joint work have been weaving between us for years.
Balas hopes that new companies can join this project, to which he wishes every success in the future.
