In the naval industry sector, PYMAR is a key player in the essential public-private collaboration, being the management body of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism and having in its Board of Directors representatives of the main Spanish private shipyards and the General State Administration and the Autonomous Communities. The entity has key instruments to achieve the best competitiveness of the shipyards, such as the Naval Guarantee Fund, and a team of experienced professionals with whom it carries out an activity of technical, legal and economic advice in shipbuilding processes, in the structuring of its financing and in the attraction of investors.  In this interview we discuss the challenges of this industry, as well as the collaboration between the Xunta de Galicia and PYMAR, which has led in recent years to the design and coordination of support projects for the Galician shipbuilding industry, such as the 149 shipbuilding operations guaranteed to date through the funds managed by PYMAR with contributions from the Xunta de Galicia through the Igape.

What added value does PYMAR bring to Galician private shipyards in terms of shipbuilding and competitiveness?
 
PYMAR is a public-private collaboration tool that promotes, integrates and coordinates industrial policy initiatives, defending the interests of the private shipbuilding industry and promoting its competitiveness. Among others, we can remember the decisive interventions of PYMAR in the defense of the tax lease and the implementation of the current asset financing system, which is an essential instrument to ensure the competitiveness of Galician private shipyards on equal terms with their most direct competitors in other countries in our environment, or the promotion of collaborative projects aimed at transforming the value chain through the promotion of R+D+i, improving environmental sustainability and training. We also participate in shipbuilding operations of private Galician shipyards by issuing guarantees through the funds managed by the company, for which we have a BBB+ credit rating by Fitch. 
 
How would you describe the relationship between PYMAR and the Xunta de Galicia in the context of supporting the shipbuilding industry in the region?
 
There is a relationship of many years of effective collaboration between the Xunta de Galicia and all of us who are part of PYMAR, to safeguard a sustained momentum of initiatives and industrial policies that benefit the Galician shipbuilding industry. In addition, we count on the prestigious professionalism of the Galician private shipyards. The success of all these efforts is achieved with the essential public-private collaboration articulated through PYMAR.

What has this collaboration between the Xunta de Galicia and PYMAR meant in the development and coordination of projects to promote the sector in recent years?

In specific shipbuilding projects, thanks to the guarantee funds managed by PYMAR and the contributions, among others, of the Xunta de Galicia, in recent years we have participated in 149 operations of the Galician shipbuilding industry. In these operations, we have issued guarantees for a total amount of 1,800 million Euros, which have led to the construction of 82 ships in Galician companies, for a total amount of more than 3,000 million Euros.

Which joint projects between the Xunta de Galicia and PYMAR do you consider have had the greatest impact on the development of the naval sector in Galicia?

 In these last years of shared effort, the result of which we feel most gratified is when, with increasing frequency, a new and modern ship built in Galicia is launched and we think of the families of the jobs it has generated, of the benefit for the industry of the value chain and for hundreds of Galician suppliers, and in short, of what each new shipbuilding means in terms of contribution to the wealth and welfare of Galicia. 

In addition, we have collaborated in numerous projects aimed at strengthening the Galician shipbuilding industry, such as the design of the Strategy for the Recovery, Growth and Diversification of the Galician Shipbuilding Industry 2022-2026, the creation of the Conecta Naval platform for the advice and support especially of Galician SMEs in their transformational projects, or the resolution of very critical situations for the sector, such as the one that took place with the questioning of our tax lease system.

With 82 ships built in private Galician shipyards and a joint investment of more than 3,000 million euros, what do you consider to have been the main challenges and successes in this shipbuilding process supported precisely by this public-private collaboration?

Looking back, when this sector went through one of the biggest existential crisis of its recent history, caused by the proceedings against the old tax lease system, the Galician shipyards ended 2013 with only 6 units in their order book. The historical institutional union that we managed to articulate to overcome that serious crisis, with the representation at the highest level of the Xunta de Galicia, together with the Central Administration and other Autonomous Communities integrated in PYMAR, as well as trade unions and other agents of the sector, facing first hand the contacts and negotiations with Brussels, were essential for the successful resolution of that hard process.

As of today, there are a total of 32 ships in the Galician shipyards' portfolio, which generate 6 million working hours, all of them originating from foreign demand, which also confirms the clear exporting character of the Galician naval sector. 

The success of this process has been possible thanks to the immense work and talent of the Galician private shipyards, the support received from the Xunta de Galicia and other institutions, and the work done in a coordinated and efficient way through PYMAR.

What are PYMAR's prospects for continuing to strengthen and support the shipbuilding industry in the region in the short-medium term?

 Ten years after the implementation of the Naval Guarantee Fund, the Galician shipbuilding industry is facing a new stage in which its entire value chain is conceived in an integrated manner, and in which enormous possibilities for growth are presented through the diversification of the activity towards the marine renewable energy sector. 

For this reason, last April 10, we signed with the Regional Minister of Economy and Industry an addendum that extends and makes the conditions for granting these guarantees more flexible, in addition to the private Galician shipyards and ship owners that contract with them, to the rest of the Galician companies in the shipbuilding industry and the marine renewable energy sector. In this way, it will be possible to guarantee operations of both ships and all types of floating devices and fixed platforms for marine renewable energy projects.

What are the main challenges facing Galician shipyards in the coming years and what role does PYMAR play in helping to meet them?

I believe that the challenges are common to the entire industry. Those related to technological innovation, to the dual ecological and digital transition and to training. To this end, it will be essential to maintain the financing instruments that will enable them to meet them.
 
From PYMAR we have worked intensively in the configuration of the future axes of the naval industry and, as a result, we have promoted transforming projects for the value chain. At the same time, we have strengthened the scope of our funds to expand our participation and support to companies in their needs for guarantees and financing.