The president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Pedro San Ginés, received on the morning of this Thursday, January 10, the institutional visit of the new president of the Canary Special Zone (ZEC), Antonio Olivera, "with the aim of establishing common work strategies to attract investments to the island in strategic sectors that create employment in value-added activities through the promotion of this tool to support economic diversification."
This first contact occurred within the framework of a round of meetings that Olivera is carrying out after taking office at the head of the ZEC last November.
The island president thanked the visit and the willingness of the new president of the ZEC to collaborate with Lanzarote, and reiterated "the need to establish lines of collaboration with this Consortium so that the future industrial and economic areas that are included in the new island planning, as well as in other municipal plans, can be included as a Canary Special Zone, in order to promote the establishment of new companies that generate employment on the island."
San Ginés blames Arrecife for the "scarce establishment of companies"
San Ginés also conveyed to his counterpart in this organization his concern about the reasons for the "scarce establishment of companies on the island of Lanzarote under the umbrella of this REF tax incentive", or that the majority of these companies do not have an industrial character, such as the transformation and elaboration of products, which, according to the president, is "what would really generate a significant volume of both investment and labor and employment."
"This is the result of the fact that the capital of the island lacks a General Plan that enables said industrial land for such purposes, unlike what happens in other capitals of the Canary Islands", assured the island president.
Promotion of the Canary Islands as a destination for investments
For his part, the head of the Consortium has pointed out that one of the main strategic lines of his management will be to intensify collaboration with all institutions, entities and social agents to maximize the results of the projection of the Canary Islands as a territory of opportunities for business; that is, to attract companies that are committed to operating in the Islands. "The promotion of the Canary Islands as a destination for investments is a task that requires cooperation and coordination between everyone, in addition to the creation of a network of direct connection with economic agents who detect where the trends or avant-gardes are in the field of business," he pointed out.
Olivera informed the president of the Cabildo that this instrument is designed to promote the diversification of the economy, which includes information technologies, the audiovisual sector, wholesale trade, the blue economy, renewable energies and recycling, among a wide range of economic activities. The new modifications of this instrument, included in the new REF, have made this incentive a more interesting tool to attract companies and capital; "the ZEC is now much more attractive, it is an incentive that provides a minimum taxation with full legal certainty."
In addition, the president of the ZEC recalled that for non-capital islands the requirements to operate within the framework of this low taxation regime imply an investment of 50,000 euros and the creation of three jobs and, in return, a powerful tax incentive is obtained in the Corporate Tax, since it falls from 25% to 4% destined to the establishment of both foreign companies and island investors.
A total of 36 companies created on the island and 246 jobs
Regarding the data on the island, he specified that 36 companies have been created, generating 246 jobs and a committed investment of 8.1 million euros. In addition, he pointed out that 70% of the companies are owned by foreign capital, highlighting computer activities and commercial distribution. "The purpose is to continue advancing," he added.
During his visit to Lanzarote, the president of the ZEC also held a meeting with the president of the Chamber of Commerce, José Torres, to establish lines of collaboration to promote the tax incentives of the ZEC among companies. In addition, he met with the island director, Juan Ramón Pérez Borges.
