The First Vice-presidency and Regional Ministry of Economy, Industry and Innovation, through Igape, prepared the Strategy for the recovery, growth and diversification of the Galician naval industry for the period 2022-2026. This roadmap which the Galician Government aims to strengthen and generate synergies in this strategic industry for Galicia was approved by the Consello de la Xunta last April. Since then, the specific measures that will be applied in consensus with the contributions of the sector itself, shipyards and auxiliary industry are being defined.

The Naval Strategy 2022-2026 lays the foundations upon which to promote the recovery and growth of the naval sector, which has more than 290 companies and 12,500 direct jobs in our region, a figure that rises to 26,000 including indirect jobs, and which represents 3.5% of the Galician GDP.

The Galician strategy for the next five years hopes that the naval sector's Strategic Project for the Recovery and Economic Transformation (Perte) will become a true opportunity for the recovery of the sector. The objective is that Galicia occupies the space that corresponds to it in the distribution of European funds, thus facilitating its commitment to the digitisation of the value chain, environmental sustainability and the improvement of education and training of workers.

Perte should be a key milestone, aiming precisely at transforming the industry's entire value chain via diversification, digitisation and improved environmental sustainability, with a firm commitment to marine renewable energies and low-emission vessels.

Three axes and eight fields of action

The Galician Naval Strategy is planned around three fundamental axes: competitive improvement, transformation and diversification, developed through eight fields of action whose measures will be expanded and specified in consensus with the sector.

The first of these areas focuses on regulating administrative burdens and establishing an appropriate support framework, and will promote key projects that can be financed by European recovery funds. The second area addresses the need for financing through different credit lines and venture capital funds.

Thirdly, cooperation between shipyards will be promoted in the search for economies of scale and synergies to improve their competitiveness, as well as to facilitate joint access to projects. The fourth area of action focuses on promoting innovation, taking advantage, for its development, of the current scientific-technological ecosystem linked to the shipbuilding sector. The fifth is based on digitisation via aid programmes that facilitate the redesign of infrastructures towards shipyard 4.0 models.

The sixth field of action focuses on sustainability in the search for both sustainable factories as well as circular economy activities. The seventh is the search for new markets to consolidate and strengthen the internationalisation of the sector. All this will be supported by the eighth field of action, commitment to talent though the setting up of different programmes to improve professional skills in digital competences, internationalisation and innovation, among others.

In short, the Galician Naval Strategy for the next five years aims to consolidate the experience, capacity and technical resources of one of the main industries in the region, activating the necessary actions for its growth and differentiation on the basis of a comprehensive agenda agreed with the sector's stakeholders.