The Lehendakari proposes to the B20 Leadership Group to take the Basque industrial model to the G20 summit

The Guggenheim Museum is hosting ‘B20: Digital Economy and Industry 4.0' today

Lehendakari Iñigo Urkullu, the Basque Premier, together with the Basque Government’s Minister for Economic Development and Infrastructures, Arantxa Tapia, met with the B20 Leadership group, which encompasses the leading companies of the G-20 countries.  The meeting was during the event at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, which is an opportunity to meet with the leading firms of the international private sector linked to the B20 in the field of the Digital Economy and Industry 4.0.

The Lehendakari stressed three ideas on which the Basque Government is working to make the economic ecosystem more attractive, such as supporting the company to serve social wellbeing, the commitment to digitalisation, with the emphasis on small- and medium-sized enterprises, along with the internationalisation challenge. Urkullu highlighted the opportunities that the event offers to share experiences and knowledge and to showcase the Basque socio-economic and industrial model, and expressed his desire that the contribution of this model be included in the reflections of the next G20 summit.

Emiliano López Atxurra, the chairman of Tecnalia, which is the organiser of the event, and Carolina Castro, the B20 Executive Director, were also present.  The aim of Business 20 (B20) is to discuss important topics in the sector in order to progress in the design of agreed public policies, which will be submitted to the G20 countries to be analysed at the summit scheduled for the end of November in Buenos Aires.

The B20: Digital Economy and Industry 4.0 event has attracted international and local business leaders who during the morning will contribute their experiences and future trends as the inspirational base for the debate that will bring the event to a close. For example, the delegates will have the opportunity to learn about experiences in digitalisation of the industrial sector carried out in the Basque Country by companies such as Siemens, Gestamp, CAF and Petronor.  

BASQUE MODEL

The Basque Government’s Minister for Economic Development and Infrastructures, Arantxa Tapia, presented the Basque case - Basque Industry 4.0 to the B20 Leadership Group.

Apart from analysing Basque digitalization in the international context, as one of the best positioned European regions in connectivity, the Minister outlined the actions being driven in the Basque Country to avoid small and medium-sized enterprises being left behind in the fourth industrial revolution.   “We cannot allow industry to progress at two speeds as that would hamper and penalise the competitiveness of the system," she stressed.

Therefore, as part of the Industry 4.0 strategy, the Basque Country offers SMEs open infrastructures such as the Digital Innovation Hub or the Basque Cybersecurity Centre, where any SMEs that need to can try and test advanced technologies, without have to make investments that small companies cannot afford. 

The Minister stressed the opportunities that the Basque Country has in the fields of energy and food to offer new differentiated products and services that contribute value.

Tapia stressed to the B20 that recommendations needed to be made in G20 regarding reindustrialisation policies and offered the Basque model as a case to share and export.