amec celebrates for the second time Positive Industry Day in the modernist area of Sant Pau, in Barcelona, a day in which companies that embody the values of the Positive Industry, a movement that defends a sustainable industry, that adapts and wants to anticipate, willing to collaborate, a positive industry.
The event began with the welcome of Laia Guilera, vice president of Amec, and the presentation of Jordi García Brustenga, general director of Industrial and SME Strategy.
Next, Jordi García Brustenga and Laia Guilera presented the award to the Positive Industry 2024 company. verescence, for being the one that best represents all the values of the Positive Industry movement, which champions the need to put the industry at the center and contribute to an industrially sustainable future.
Likewise, Carinsa Group received recognition for the company that best represents the value of anticipation, Proquimac PFC SA received recognition for adaptability, Ruby Group recognition of glocalization and Tapla Industries that of collaboration.
The recognition jury is made up of: Oriol Pascual Moya-Angeler, founder of S2 Xpeed; Belen Viloria, executive director of B Lab Spain; Javier Garcia Diaz, general director of UNE Spanish Association for Standardization; Pelayo Corella Professor and director of the Master in International Retail Management at ESCI-UPF; and the general director of amec, Joan Tristany.
Good prospects
Amec companies have increased exports in 2023 by 5,59% compared to 2022, as reflected in the annual report Situation 2023 and Perspectives 2024 of Amec, the community of internationalized industrial companies. Despite the geopolitical turbulence and the increase in difficulties in international activity, Amec companies have had an export propensity of 53,9%. A trend that will continue, since 68,7% of companies expect to continue increasing their exports in 2024, and estimate that they will do so by 6,86% as a whole. Almost nine out of ten companies closed last year with profits, and six out of ten increased their workforce, a higher percentage than expected the previous year.
France, the United States and Portugal maintain their positions as the first destination markets in 2023, the year in which 13 companies established 18 new subsidiaries, almost double that of 2022. A total of 142 Amec companies have 664 locations abroad. This trend is due to the growing interest of customers in bringing production closer to their location, which drives the phenomenon of glocalization, a competitiveness factor promoted by Amec. By 2024, in the ranking of markets of greatest interest among companies, the United States, France, Mexico and Germany will repeat in the top positions. Below these markets, the rise of Saudi Arabia stands out, moving from 11th place in 2023 to 6th in 2024.
90,4% of companies claim to have encountered significant difficulties in developing their international activity in 2023, a figure that, although very high, has decreased compared to 2022.
Practically nine out of ten companies have implemented some type of environmental sustainability measure. In this area, the most widely applied measures are the optimization of waste management and recycling (58,6%), the consumption of energy from renewable sources (50,5%) and the increase in the use of materials recycled (47,4%).
On average, companies have allocated 4,48% of their turnover to innovation in 2023, mainly in areas related to the development of new products.
The forecast of internationalized industrial companies is, for the most part, to maintain or increase staff. However, nine out of ten companies have difficulties attracting and retaining talent.
Amec promotes new key competitiveness factors
The community of internationalized industrial companies Amec promotes the new key factors of competitiveness in Spanish companies: anticipation, adaptability, collaboration, globalization and sustainability. The companies that are part of Amec generate an export volume of more than 7.800 billion euros, export on average 53,9% of their turnover and invest 4,5% in innovation.
