Open for
Business
INTERVIEW: José Torres Fuentes
President, Lanzarote Chamber of Commerce
After years of lobbying, Lanzarote finally
received its own Chamber of Commerce
in 2005 – the first newly established
chamber in Spain since the 1930s. Since
then the institution has gone from
strength to strength. Now located in
smart new offices near the hospital, the
Chamber works to assist and promote
all sorts of businesses on the island.
owever, the Chamber of Commerce had hardly been
established when Spain and the Canaries were hit by one of the
worst financial crises in living memory. As the New Year arrives,
and with many changes on the horizon, Shaun Addison spoke
to the President of the Chamber, José Torres Fuentes, to hear
his views on what the future holds for business and for the island.
H
n At the turn of the year can we make any
predictions about 2015?
What we can say is that it will be an interesting year, and there will certainly be
plenty of activity. At the Chamber we believe that diversifying business
activities will guarantee our future, and placing all our eggs in one basket is
risky. So we’re looking at growth in terms of diversification rather than volume.
n But the island remains almost entirely
reliant on tourism.
That´s true; but many of the businesses I´m talking about are not directly
tourist-related, but certainly complementary to tourism. For example, there are
three lines of activity we´ve recently been promoting; firstly the island´s wine
industry; secondly, agriculture and food, and thirdly nautical activities. All of
these are linked with tourism to a certain extent, but it´s also important that we
improve certain businesses to allow them the potential to export – for example,
Lanzarote now exports more wine than stays on the island.
n Is the crisis over, as the Spanish
Prime Minister recently claimed?
There are certainly reasons to be optimistic, and I think this year will see the
island start to bear the fruits of a long-term commitment to solidifying our
foundations and improving and renovating what we already have.
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| January 2015 | The Gazette