The president of the Lanzarote Business Confederation (CEL), Beatriz Salazar, stated today that "productivity has become one of the major structural challenges for the Canary Islands' economy".
A challenge that **conditions** the **competitiveness** of companies, economic **growth**, and the creation of **quality jobs**. "However, public debate remains almost exclusively focused on the role of **companies** and **workers**, forgetting a **third key factor: the functioning of public administration**," he reported.
Beatriz Salazar insists that the improvement of productivity cannot fall solely on the efforts of the business sector or the training of workers. There is a "third leg," as decisive as it is little seen, which has to do with administrative agility, legal certainty, and the simplification of public procedures.
"Productivity cannot be understood solely from a business or labor perspective. **The Administration has a direct responsibility in generating a favorable environment** for companies to invest, innovate, and grow," states the president, Beatriz Salazar
The president of the CEL highlights that bureaucratic hurdles, delays in granting licenses, regulatory complexity, and a lack of coordination between administrations have become genuine brakes on economic activity. “These obstacles not only make projects more expensive but also generate uncertainty, delay investments, and reduce companies' ability to plan with guarantees,” she denounced.
“There are projects that take months or even years to get a license. This slowness not only discourages companies but also reduces the competitiveness of the entire island. We cannot allow bureaucracy to be a wall that hinders Lanzarote's development,” Salazar emphasizes.
For this reason, improving productivity in the Canary Islands necessarily involves modernizing public administration, equipping it with more resources, advancing the real digitalization of procedures, and, above all, simplifying processes that are today unnecessarily long and complex.
“An agile administration is not a privilege of the private sector, it is a necessity for all of society. When an investment is delayed, it's not just the company that loses: the territory loses, employment loses, and citizens lose,” Salazar concludes.
The Confederation considers it essential to open a serious debate on the role of the Administration as an active agent of productivity. A more efficient, agile, and public service-oriented Administration will not only facilitate business activity but will also contribute directly to the social well-being and sustainable development of the Canary Islands.