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Basque Premier, Patxi López, has spoken of the need to make Euskadi "a fertile terrain for the creation of new businesses" because "we cannot be oblivious to the level of competition in terms of talent that we are facing on a global scale."

Patxi López was speaking at the official opening, this Tuesday morning, of the Foro Emprende 2011, a business forum taking place at the BEC in Barakaldo. Before more than 2,500 attendees, the lehendakari described the annual forum as "a seedbed for future and burgeoning businesses".

The Basque Premier said he believes it is necessary to "make an effort to reduce the long bureaucratic process which those who wish to undertake a new enterprise are always faced with."

López recalled the creation of the Servicio Vasco de Emprendimiento (Basque Enterprise Service) which will become fully functional in October this year. According to the lehendakari, the service is designed to be a central point at which aspiring entrepreneurs may access all the information and advice they need.

Patxi López also highlighted that last year alone, the Department of Industry allocated 10.5 million Euros to new businesses compared to just eight million in the previous tax year.

The lehendakari, who was accompanied by the Basque Country's Industry Councillor, Bernabé Unda, and the mayor of Barakaldo, Tontxu Rodríguez, also stressed that this year’s Forum would "place the entrepreneur at the centre, as the driving force behind the idea, the root of any new business that generates wealth and employment in Euskadi."

Patxi López signalled that "absolutely everything is changing both economically and politically, and in our personal lives and social relationships, not only because of the recession, but also due to globalization, the rise of new technologies, an increasingly aged society and migratory movements."