New law for chambers of commerce in the Balearics will come into force in the first quarter of next year, its draft having been agreed with the regional government. The reform will change the current functioning of the chambers in Majorca, Minorca and Ibiza, while the government is looking to optimise agreements with them and to avoid duplication of effort.
Trade minister Iago Negueruela says that the main function of the chambers will be to take charge of the whole process of business internationalisation. The government will work with them in creating the most effective strategies for this. The reform will strengthen the role of small to medium-sized businesses, especially the part they play in exporting.
Reflecting this internationalisation process, there were increased export sales between January and September. Negueruela believes that the figures are positive and show that companies are taking advantage of export opportunities. In order to improve competitiveness, however, it is important that there is a revised economic regime (to be negotiated with Madrid).
While most sectors recorded export sales growth up to September, there was a drop in the most valuable sector: footwear was down 8.4% to 72.2 million euros. Among the gainers, furniture increased the most. The 401% rise (to 20.3 million) is largely attributed to hotelier investments in the Caribbean and the US. Potatoes increased by more than 30% to 8.6 million, suggesting that the UK referendum result has had no impact.