The Minister of Tourism, Javier Hurtado, announced this Tuesday the approval of the first call for the Technological Fund, a program that is integrated into the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan of the Government of Spain and aimed at modernizing trade.
Euskaraz irakurri: Turismok enpresa txiki eta ertainen eta elkarte komertzialen eraldaketa digitalerako laguntzak aurkeztu ditu
The Department of Tourism, Commerce and Consumption of the Basque Government has presented this Tuesday Aid for the digital transformation of SMEs and trade associations. Specifically, the counselor Javier Hurtado, has announced the approval of the first call for the Technological Funda program that is integrated into the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan of the Government of Spain and aimed at the trade modernization. The line is equipped with 4.1 million for Euskadi in two calls2022-2023, financed with European Next Generation Funds.
In this context, as reported by the Basque Government, the first call will promote projects throughout 2022, and will be endowed with two million euros. The objective of this Fund is to support and promote competitiveness and modernization, through the digital and sustainable transformation of the commercial sector. During 2022, more than 30 million Next Generation Funds are being executed for the Tourism and Commerce sectors, and for 2023, more than 40 million are planned in the Basque Country.
The Technological Fund establishes two lines of aid, depending on the type of entities. On the one hand, a line for micro, small and medium-sized companies in the commercial sector; on the other hand, the other line is addressed to associations and associative entities, including federations and confederations.
digital transformation
In both cases, the expenses that may be the object of investment of the aid are, in the first place, those directed to the digital transformation. According to the Basque Government, “to give a few examples, they will be investments aimed at improving customer service, relationships, knowledge and loyalty, through the use of new technologies and advanced analytics techniques. They will also include investments to promote omnichannel, improve the shopping experience, cybersecurity solutions, internal communication improvement platforms or computer applications for mobile phones or other devices”.
Secondly, the same source specifies, “investments will go to the transformation of the point of salewith the automation of operations, application of new technologies, acquisition of technological furniture, incorporation of relational marketing, and those related to the improvement of the management of the business itself”.
Thirdly, the aid is also reserved for investments related to sustainability and circular economy: “This includes investments to reduce the consumption of inputs, the optimization of distribution, delivery and return operations of the product, the improvement of energy efficiency, the installation of smart delivery points or the installation of renewable energy sources, among other solutions to increase sustainability”.
The fourth and last of the lines of investment is the one related to the supply chain and traceability: ·This includes”, says the Executive, “collaborative platforms of local producers, integration of Km0 suppliers, new technologies to know the traceability of the product and the optimization of the assortment offered, either on the physical shelf or online” .
In addition, and in the case of the line of aid to associations, a fifth eligible point is included, “referring to the WiFi network installation in commercial areas and applications that provide information on the commercial offer, together with elements of heritage, in order to promote tourism in its gastronomic, cultural and shopping areas”.
As explained by the Basque Government, “investments may be financed up to 100%, with a minimum investment of 1,500 euros for SMEs and 50,000 euros for associations, whose amounts may reach up to 50,000 euros in SMEs and 100,000 in associations”. In this first call of two million, 415,000 will go to associations, and 1.6 million, to companies in the commercial sector.
The order will be published on December 20, beginning the application submission period, “which will run until January 19, 2023.” Hurtado recalled that the sector is already being informed, and that, throughout the week, specific meetings will be closed, to help them with all doubts.
Source: Eitb
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