The businessman and president of Pimec Lleida, Jaume Saltó, has been elected as the new president of the Chamber of Commerce, Lleida, taking over from Juan Simón, who has been at the head of the entity for the last 28 years.
The plenary of the Chamber of Commerce of Lleida, which was formed on Thursday, has elected the new executive committee of the chamber by a large majority. Only one candidacy was presented to occupy the different positions, headed by the president of Pimec Lleida, Jaume Saltó. After receiving the support of 33 of the 35 new members of the plenary session, Saltó has become the new president of the chamber of Lleida.
The executive committee consists of Manel Llaràs (first vice-president), Estanislau Grau (second vice-president), Josep Maria Rusiñol (third vice-president), Josep Ignasi Martín (treasurer) and Jordi Azlor, Marc Cerón, Jordi Pifarré, Berenguer Pla, Antoni Postius, Pompili Roiger and Borja Solans, all seven of whom are members.
Two of the main challenges set by Jaume Saltó for the next four years are to achieve the economic viability of the Lleida Chamber of Commerce and to publicise and disseminate its activities. For this reason, it has called for a new Chambers of Commerce Act to define the role of these entities, as well as their financing.
During his speech, however, Saltó wanted to clarify that “the chamber is about business people and not politics”. For the president of Pimec Lleida, the Chamber must be a “tool of cohesion” for the Lleida business fabric to improve competitiveness and must act as a “lobby” with authorities.
In his speech, he demanded the improvement of Lleida’s infrastructures, including the A-2 (he wants to suggest a pilot test to the Generalitat so that it has 5G coverage for an autonomous vehicle), the N-240, the dual carriageways to Vielha and Huesca and to promote a suburban railway network and improve the Manresa line. “They are key to promoting connectivity, as well as preventing the depopulation of the Pyrenees by getting fibre optics to all points” he said, and noted that “Catalonia does not end in El Bruc,” so he has advocated to “fight against the centralism of Barcelona”.
On the other hand, the new president has raised the need to promote the four existing committees in the chamber and to create four new ones (training and development, digital transformation and new technologies, sustainability and environment and one in the field of logistics). In addition, Saltó has put on the table the creation of a commission that covers all business organizations in the territory “so that all entrepreneurs may move in the same direction”.
During the constitutive session, a minute’s silence was observed in memory of the businessman Josep Oriol Pelegrí, who lost his life this week in an accident at work. Pelegrí was to join this Thursday as a new member of the full Chamber of Commerce of Lleida on behalf of COELL. A bouquet of flowers was placed on his seat.
