The request is signed by the 29 clusters of the Catalan Cluster Network

The impact of Covid-19 has been a hard blow for Catalan companies, and the vast majority will have to introduce changes to get out of the crisis. For this reason, the Catalan Clusters have asked the government of the Generalitat de Catalunya to promote a “Catalan new deal”, with concrete measures and financial resources to be able to apply tomorrow, after the crisis.

For the clusters, which represent 30% of the GDP of Catalonia, it is essential that the efforts and investments made by the various public administrations to face the consequences of the state of alarm be specified, because not only the future of many companies depends, but also the country model.

The request is signed by the 29 sector clusters of the Catalan Cluster Network, which at the time already signed the manifesto “The Clusters versus Covid19“. All of them are aware that, until now, the most urgent thing was to face the health and social emergency generated by the pandemic, and they highly value various initiatives led by the administrations, but once the health crisis passes and it gradually returns to normality, it will take a further step and help the productive economy.

The “Catalan new deal” that is requested should start with a study of the impact of the crisis caused by Covid-19 on the different economic sectors. Then, identify the transformation needs of companies and those industrial value chains to preserve in Catalonia, reducing international dependency. Also promote innovation support programs to bring Catalan companies closer to European standards, as well as multiply the resources allocated to internationalization so that they can open new markets. Finally, it would be necessary to design a support program to accompany companies to make the strategic change that new times require, reorienting industrial processes and business models so that they can continue to have a future in this new post Covid-19 world.

The Catalan Cluster Network also wants to thank the work done by companies to help in the health crisis for Covid-19. The Packaging Cluster has promoted various actions to support the member and society, such as:

the donation to the Hospital Parc Taulí in Sabadell, the distribution of 20,000 batches of lots with food products for vulnerable people, the organization and coordination of virtual sessions to help the member and to promote the transfer of information, or the dissemination of an industry statement packaging to highlight the task being carried out.

Finally, the clusters also wanted to highlight the task carried out by the entities to help SMEs to clarify how the various decrees and urgent measures applied by the administration affected them, to establish new communication channels and an efficient method of teleworking, and to keep exports or financing active to minimize damages, in the webinars that we have jointly organized.