On the 6th and the 7th of September, AREPO went to Santiago de Compostela in Spain to participate to the transnational meeting for the kickoff of the European project #AGROSMARTcoop.
AGROSMARTcoop « Space for the integration, competitiveness and intelligent economic growth of agri-food cooperatives in the SUDOE rural areas » is a European project cofinanced by the Interreg Sudoe programme 2014-2020 which aims to attenuate the disadvantages of rural areas belonging to the Sudoe and to promote their development through the support of their agri-food cooperatives.
Its main objective is to create a space for promotion, networking and intelligent interaction with advanced structures, tools and support services to support and improve the technological innovation, the management and the competitiveness of agri-food cooperatives of the Sudoe, especially with the sharing and the diffusion of knowledge and best practices between cooperatives.
AGROSMARTcoop will focus on 5 strategic sectors : meat, milk, fruits and vegetables, oil and wine.
The project will cover 6 Regions of the South-West of Europe (Galicia, Castilla-La Mancha, Basque Country and Extremadura – SP, Norte Region – PT, Aquitaine – FR and has obtained a total budget of 1 295 000 € to implement its activities. This budget is cofinanced at 75% by the ERDF (European Régional Development Fund).
AREPO has participated in the project design of AGROSMARTcoop and is integrated to the consortium as an internal partner. With skills in the quality promotion of food products and its network of Regions, AREPO will bring its experience to the improvement of marketing strategies of agri-food cooperatives and will have a key role in the promotion, the networking and the results dissemination to strategic political representatives.
The President José Severino Montes Pérez and the Director Higinio Mougán from the leader organism AGACA – Unión de Cooperativas Asociación Galega de Cooperativas Agrarias – have introduced the meeting. The conference on the 6th of September was dedicated to the partners presentations and to the official opening of the projet with the participation of Ángeles Vázquez Mejuto, Minister of Rural Areas of Galicia and Francisco Conde López, Minister of Economy, Employment and Industry of Galicia. The 7th of September was devoted to a work meeting between members of the steering committee.
