More than 50 companies gathered on Friday, January 19th, at the Chamber of Commerce of Mallorca to attend the annual event organized by Balearic Marine Cluster. During the event, the main calls for active grants and subsidies for the year 2024 were presented.
The welcome for the day, which began at 9:30 with the reception of speakers and attendees over a networking breakfast, was led by Mr. Toni Salom, President of Balearic Marine Cluster, and Mr. Antonio Carmona, Regional Secretary for Innovation and Digital Society.
Both highlighted the fundamental role of Clusters in improving the competitiveness of strategic sectors, such as the nautical industry, and their role as drivers of innovation among companies.
Mr. Pedro Suasi, Manager of Balearic Marine Cluster, briefly presented what BMC is and the services it offers to its member companies, placing special emphasis on the Technical Office service, inaugurated last September. This office provides technical, fiscal, and administrative advice to companies in the sector. Suasi presented the program of the day, which included presentations of active and planned calls, as well as two roundtable discussions.
The first intervention was led by Mr. Toni Viader, partner at Auren Consultores, the company in charge of the notification service for grants and subsidies of the technical office. Alongside him, Ms. Ingrid de la Fuente, General Director of the General Directorate of Industry and Industrial Estates, and Mr. Diego Víu Domínguez, General Director of the General Directorate of Circular Economy, Energy Transition, and Climate Change, outlined the various regional and state grants available, both specific to nautical sector companies and general for other businesses.
These concepts were further explored in the first roundtable discussion, where different companies shared their experiences in applying for grants and subsidies. Mr. Nacho Bonnin, CFO of Nautipaints, presented his experience with the modernization program and the dual training call, a project promoted by the training and employment commission of Balearic Marine Cluster. Ms. Lucía Mingot, Director of Quality and Innovation at Astilleros de Mallorca, shared Astilleros de Mallorca’s experience in applying for and presenting projects in regional calls such as the modernization and internationalization call, and state-level initiatives like submitting projects to CDTI and participating in the Naval PERTE. Mr. Andrés Gual, from the Quality and Environment Department at Port Adriano, was the last participant in the roundtable and highlighted the service provided by BMC for technical consultations.
The session concluded with the roundtable discussion on “CDTI Funding Opportunities,” moderated by Mr. Omar Beidas, Head of Innovation Service, who presented the CAIB-Isba 2024-2025 grant line, pending publication, as well as the services and programs offered by the Innobal Office.
The roundtable included the participation of Ms. María José Tomás, from the Department of Institutional Promotion and Territorial Cooperation of the CDTI (Center for Technological Development and Innovation), who presented what CDTI is and various R&D&I grant lines, such as partially reimbursable loans and grants open in 2024. Mr. Jaume Teruel, National Area Manager at Zabala Barcelona, a company that is part of the pool of providers for the Technical Office of Balearic Marine Cluster and presents over 11% of the projects approved by CDTI each year. Finally, Mr. Tià Simó, CEO of V2 Boat, shared his experience in presenting a CDTI project and announced its favorable resolution.
The event concluded with words of gratitude from Mr. Toni Salom to the attendees, encouraging them to actively participate in applying for grants and investments for the development of their businesses, thereby contributing to the continuous growth of the nautical industry in the Balearic Islands.
