The President of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, highlighted this morning the Government’s commitment to the industry. He assured that ‘the Catalan industry has grown, it does so strongly, and we are on the path we have set: for Catalonia to become an increasingly industrial country.’ ‘The industry has been the main driver of our economy, it is what has allowed us to be the country we are and to provide Catalonia with an economic resilience that, in times of difficulty, has allowed us to guarantee the continuity of jobs and prosperity for the entire territory,’ he emphasized.
The Head of the Executive, accompanied by the Minister of Business and Employment, Roger Torrent, inaugurated this morning in Parets del Vallès the new automotive components plant of the German industrial group Freudenberg, which this year celebrates the 175th anniversary of its foundation.
Pere Aragonès highlighted that Freudenberg’s investment in Parets del Vallès “is a very good example of how Catalonia is being reindustrialized, how the country’s industry is being strengthened.” He recalled that on March 16, 2022, within the framework of working sessions with the government of Baden-Württemberg, which he attended together with Minister Torrent, “we had the opportunity to visit the headquarters of the Freudenberg group and announce this important investment, which has also been supported by ACCIÓ,” which has allocated 200,000 euros as part of the line of support for high-impact business investments.
During his speech at the event, the Head of the Government also highlighted that, last year, ‘the Catalan industry grew by 2.8%,’ a figure he valued as ‘extremely important,’ considering that throughout the country the growth was 1.9% and at the European level there was a decrease of 2.8%.
The new Freudenberg facilities in Parets del Vallès, designed to operate 100% with renewable energy, involve the replacement and modernization of the existing plant and have represented an investment of over 11 million euros.
Freudenberg Sealing Technologies is the automotive-focused division of the group and manufactures reinforcements for shock absorbers and components for steering systems. The production process involves the joining of rubber and metal through compression or injection, using the latest technological innovations, such as AI.