Juan MarínBravo has marked his official confirmation as the new president of Murcianfresh produce export association Proexport with a demand for morebacking from the Spanish region’s authorities and a plea to banks to makecredit more readily available.
Mr Marín,who was uncontested for the post of president, was formally appointed to therole at Proexport’s general assembly, which was held in Murcia on 23 October.He replaces Grupo Paloma president Miguel Durán.
In astatement, the new president urged Murcia’s regional government to put in placea plan to improve the competitiveness of the region’s agriculture at a nationallevel.
Mr Marín also urged Spanish banks to back Murcian growers byproving more access to credit, after admitting that many producers in thesector had found lines of credit “difficult” to secure during the past 12months.
Murcia’s farmers, he said, could provide banks with a “firmassurance” that they would be “present for many more years leading freshproduce exports in Europe”.
To achieve this, Mr Marín continued, producers required “thenecessary funds” to finance their operations in external markets.
Mr Marín, who has been an active member of Proexport for 11years, is also president of Campo de Lorca, Hortofrutícola 3 Puentes and KettleProduce España. In addition, he is the managing director of Agrocazalla andvice-president of export consortium Hortiberia.
