The president of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, Mònica Roca, has made a call for the CUP, the farthest left of the Catalan pro-independence parties, to be integrated into the new Catalan government, in order to form a "strong and cohesive" executive with the entire pro-independence majority taking part. Speaking on Spanish public television's Cafè d'idees programme, Roca warned that what must not happen is a repeat of the lack of cohesion seen in the previous Catalan government, "when we had two parties instead of one government". She called for courage and a common pro-independence roadmap.
"I would like a strong and cohesive government. And I find it very attractive for the CUP to be there," she reiterated.
Roca is convinced that the best thing for Catalonia "is to be independent", and stated that most Catalan businesspeople agree with this view. "People said that the business community was not [pro-independence], and that is not right, as we won the election," she said, while reiterating that the Chamber works for all companies, and has not become politicized. Mònica Roca was elected as the first woman to head the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, after her predecessor, Joan Canadell, left the position to take up the seat he won for JxCat in the recent Catalan parliamentary elections.
Mònica Roca said that the Chamber will work to ensure that the European funds are not dominated excessively by large companies, leaving SMEs without access to them: "We are expecting a lot from the European funds and there is a fear that they will not end up reaching the small companies", she admitted. Roca recalled that of the 140 billion euros envisaged in EU funding, half will be in the form of non-refundable grants, the rest in loans; and that Catalonia would receive between 20 and 30 billion euros.
In relation to the aid announced by the Spanish government following the pandemic, the president of the Chamber said that they have estimated that in Catalonia 1,250 million euros is needed in direct aid. She says that this figure is the same as the cost of the furlough schemes, the ERTOS: "What we are asking for is direct aid and we are going to the Spanish government for this, since it has the ability to go to the markets and look for this funding." "The Catalan government has little access to the markets and has already done a lot of what it is able to do," she added.
Regarding the holding of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Mònica Roca "is confident that this 2021, it will be held" although she admitted that no one would be comparing to with that of 2019. The 2020 edition of the vast technology trade fair, due to be held last February, was cancelled due to the coronavirus, and this year's event has now been programmed for June: "There is a safe way to start holding doing this type of event. The "Mobile" this year will not be like that of 2019, we will have to wait until at least 2022 for that", she suggested.
This year’s Mobile World Congress could receive between 45,000 and 50,000 people, about half of what is usual, according to figures the GSMA organizing firm is working with. GSMA marketing director Stephanie Lynch-Habib has announced that negative coronavirus tests carried out in the previous 72 hours will be required for all those who wish to enter the venue.