FemCAT, Fundació Privada d'Empresaris

Catalan Parliament, 14/06/2007

Parliament signs an agreement with the FemCAT foundation for businesspeople and Members of Parliament to exchange knowledge

This afternoon, in the Parliament meeting room, its President, Ernest Benach, and Joaquim Boixareu, the Chairman of FemCAT, the business and top executives private foundation, signed an agreement to implement the program "Businesses and Parliament", which plans for Members of Parliament to have working sessions in Catalan companies to encourage reciprocal understanding between MPs and businesses.

Benach pointed out that "it is true that there is a divorce between politicians and society", but stressed that that "we want to find a solution" and that initiatives like this "break an inertia that nobody likes".

As he said in his acceptance address, the President encouraged members to be "active agents" for the whole territory, and added that the agreement goes along these lines and will enable MPs and businessmen to work together and approach important issues that affect the whole country.

On the other hand, Boixareu said he was satisfied by the agreement with Parliament, because "it will allow politicians and the business world to get to know each other better ". In his opinion, collaboration between Parliament and civil society must jointly "confront the challenges facing the country and make Catalonia one of the leading countries in the world".

The ceremony was also attended by the Second Vice-president, Ramon Camp; the First Secretary, Lídia Santos; the Spokesman for ERC, Joan Ridao; the MPs Pilar Pifarré, Meritxell Ruiz, Judit Carreras, Enric Millo, Mercè Civit, and the General Secretary, Imma Folchi. The FemCAT foundation was represented by Xavier Cambra, Germán Ramón-Cortés, Josep Miarnau and Josep Santacreu.

The agreement states that Members of Parliament exchange experiences and information with various business sectors and gain first-hand knowledge of the shortfalls and problems of professional areas they are responsible for legislating. This means they will have a better understanding of the realities they have to control by law, thus making their legislative task more effective and more in line with the needs of the business world and the sectors studied. At the same time, companies will learn about the instruments and procedures of the world of politics.

The FemCAT foundation was constituted in May 2004 by a group of business people between thirty-five and forty-five years of age whose aim was to promote the Catalan economy and place Catalonia in its rightful place in the world. Its members define the foundation as an association that is independent of any political party and based on four pillars: innovation, competitiveness, social cohesion and projection of the country.

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