The Lehendakari will receive this Friday a representation from Zedarriak, the forum made up of relevant figures from the Basque business world whose report on the economic situation, in which it is concluded that the Basque Country “no longer occupies leadership positions”, has generated great discomfort in the Autonomous government and in the PNV. The 64-page document analyzes the persistent relocation of decision centers, the lack of attraction for investors and highly qualified professionals, the poor alignment between the needs of companies and educational training, the poor position of the Basque Country in matters such as research and development compared to the more prosperous regions of Europe, and the notable demographic deficit of the community.
The meeting, officially announced by the Presidency of the Basque Government without offering more details, comes a month and a half after Zedarriak posted the controversial report on his website. In these weeks, first privately and then publicly, relevant nationalist leaders have censored the study, with which the Basque employers’ association Confebask has shown its agreement by stressing that Euskadi “has lost punch.”
Urkullu himself spoke openly about the matter at the recent meeting of Biscayan businessmen, to whom he denied “self-complacency” and to whom he asked for “trust”, after showing his displeasure with those who show “a contrary trend, conditioned by the virus, of the permanent search for the negative; sometimes, even, without correspondence with the objective reality that we live». “This negative trend – Urkullu added -, would try to make us believe that we have lost confidence in each and every one of ourselves and that we allow ourselves to be carried away by the comfort of turning the responsibility of our shortcomings on others”.
Zedarriak was born with fourteen founders, but two of them chose to leave the platform amid the exchange of accusations: Elena Zarraga, director of the LKS Next consultancy, belonging to the Mondragon Group, and director of Laboral Kutxa, and the professor of International Law of the University of the Basque Country Juan José Alvarez.
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