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Minister Àngels Chacón with representatives from the clusters (Photo: ACCIÓ).
 16.07.2019

CataloniaBioHT participates in the Annual Advisory Committee of the Catalonia’s Cluster Programme

Last Thursday, the president of CataloniaBio & HealthTech (CataloniaBioHT), Jaume Amat, participated in the Annual Advisory Committee of the Catalonia's Cluster Programme, promoted by ACCIÓ, alongside the other presidents of the 30 accredited clusters. The association, founded in 2017 as a result of the merger of CataloniaBio and HeathTech Cluster and headquartered in the Barcelona Science Park, has over 160 companies and agents in the field of biomedicine and health. 

 

The Annual Advisory Committee of the Catalonia’s Cluster Programme was held last Thursday in Gavà. This annual meeting with the presidents of Catalan clusters aims to reinforce and intensify the activity of these organisations. 

During his speech, Jaume Amat, president of CataloniaBioHT, stated that “the Catalan biomedical sector currently finds itself in a moment of sustained, balanced and solid growth”. Amat also spoke of the importance of the complementarity of CataloniaBioHT’s partners, ranging from research centres (generators of innovation projects) to a vast network of start-ups (capable of developing new health solutions and assessing them) and consolidated companies (which play a key role in introducing these products into the market for hospitals and patients). The president of CataloniaBioHT also remarked that “innovative public purchasing is a very powerful tool which, as a group, we must learn how to maximise”.

The number of Catalan companies forming part of clusters in Catalonia has quadrupled over the last 10 years, according to ACCIÓ data. Currently, 2,300 companies and industry agents are members of the 30 Catalan clusters, responsible for 30% of Catalonia’s GDP (generating 74 billion euros in total), creating more than 300,000 jobs. These are the highest figures since the Generalitat (the Catalan regional government) launched its programmes to boost local business in 1992, using instruments that make member entities more competitive through the development of collaborative transformative projects and the definition of strategic goals for the sector. 

Some of the world’s most competitive countries that work in clusters are South Korea, Singapore, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Germany. In Catalonia, with an aim of reinforcing and intensifying the activity of these organisations, ACCIÓ has developed the Catalonia Clusters’ programme, which has 30 accredited clusters.

► For further information: CataloniaBioHT [+] i ACCIÓ [+]