Lehendakari: "We will continue to take steps to become more competitive and attractive to businesses”

• Iñigo Urkullu attended the presentation of the Mercedes Benz-Vitoria "Factory of the Future", which will start their electric vehicle production in 2026
• "We are creating the industry of the 21st century through public-private collaboration, which has given us such good results in the Basque Country; we must continue to promote this working model," he said.

The Lehendakari stated that the Basque Country is a "place in which one can invest" and indicated that steps will continue to be taken to continue becoming more “competitive and attractive to businesses”. Iñigo Urkullu attended the presentation of the Mercedes-Benz Vitoria "Factory of the Future 2026", which took place this afternoon at the Júndiz Industrial Estate, together with the Regional Minister Arantxa Tapia, in which President Pedro Sánchez also took part.

In his speech, the Lehendakari highlighted the long history of collaboration between Mercedes-Benz and the Basque Country - "a history of commitment to the automotive industry, a history and an example of public-private collaboration" - and recalled the visit he made to the company's headquarters in Stuttgart in 2015, during which he proposed the creation of a new Technology Unit in Gasteiz.

In this regard, he pointed out several milestones of the last decade as a result of this collaboration, and among them he referred to the agreement reached for the future Advanced Automotive Manufacturing Research Centre-Basque Automotive Manufacturing Center (BAM), in which Mercedes also participates and which will be up and running before December 2026. The new centre will take on the design and development of new process technologies and intelligent systems for the manufacture of the new electric and connected vehicle. "The Basque Country is making an firm commitment to the decarbonisation of industry and to extending industrial development to all corners of our country," he said.

At another point in his speech, Iñigo Urkullu advocated continuing to work "based on trust and collaboration" to ensure the future of Basque industry and stated that the Basque Country is an industrial country that has been able to adapt to new times and new needs "in order to be competitive on a global level".

"We are creating the industry of the 21st century through public-private collaboration, which has given us such good results in the Basque Country; we must continue to promote this working model", concluded the Lehendakari.