The Trade Observatory, the Government's highest advisory body on this matter, after its creation in 2008, has been reactivated today with a new composition and functions, after years of paralysis, with the aim of promoting the improvement and competitiveness of the commercial sector in the Canary Islands.
Integrated by representatives of the Canarian administration, of the business organizations representing small businesses, of supermarkets and large stores and of the trade unions and consumer organizations, today's meeting has served to outline the most immediate objectives and tasks and for which two working groups have been constituted: one for the regulatory framework and another for strategic planning and innovation.
In this sense, the Minister of the branch, who was accompanied at the meeting by the Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce, Justo Artiles, and the General Director of Commerce and Consumption, David Mille, highlighted as a priority the development of a Trade Law adapted to the new consumer profiles and new types of commercial exchange.
The current Canarian regulatory text is more than 10 years old, and "since then", she said, "trade and the forms and trends in commercial exchanges have evolved exponentially and numerous disruptive changes have originated that did not exist when the current legislative decree came into force".
In addition to collecting and regulating the new forms of commerce (digital, omnichannel, etcetera) the new regulation also seeks to review and simplify the current procedure for granting commercial licenses, "adapting it to European regulations and avoiding the cumbersome existing procedure, especially when it comes to opening supermarkets or issues such as the Territorial Plans for Large Commercial Equipment", Yaiza Castilla pointed out.
The renewed legislative text is also "an opportunity to make the system of maximum and minimum openings on Sundays and holidays more flexible, respecting the limits of the basic legislation (16 days maximum), but allowing greater elasticity depending on the needs of consumers, the rights of workers in the sector, and the development of the commercial and business fabric of the Canary Islands".
The open commercial areas will also have their space in the new text, regulating them for the first time in order to promote associative movements and so that they can participate in projects with public funds.
At the Observatory meeting, held at the Elder Museum in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, other issues were discussed, such as the launch of the Retail Institute or the proposal to commission the commercial intelligence data supply office, among other issues necessary to boost the commercial fabric of the Canary Islands.
It should be noted that the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce has in the current year the largest budget in its history for the commercial sector, that is 11,687,250 euros for the development of its three major strategic axes: the integral development of traditional areas of commercial activity; training and support for SMEs and the self-employed in the acquisition of digital skills, and innovation and transformation of the business model.
Likewise, the Minister of Commerce reported on the launch of the project 'Canary Islands Intelligent Commercial Destination' which has funding of more than 22 million euros, from the ERDF 22-27 funds, for the realization and execution of projects to transform the commercial model of the Canary Islands.
The Trade Observatory, in order to achieve greater organizational efficiency, will have, in addition to the working group on the new regulatory framework and legislative proposals, another on strategic planning, innovation and studies.
The latter will focus its work on analyzing the situation and trends affecting the retail sector and the commercial fabric of the Canary Islands, in particular the Open Commercial Zones; as well as the situation of freight transport, the supply chain, and collect and propose proposals and actions to improve the operation and efficiency of logistics in the Canary Islands, among other issues.
One of the main objectives of the Trade Observatory is that all agents in the sector collaborate to achieve the recovery of the commercial fabric, which has been severely affected by the pandemic. In this way, Yaiza Castilla clarifies, "the demands and expectations of Canarian entrepreneurs, workers and consumers can be adequately met".