Tomás García Madrid: “It is necessary to incentivize public-private ventures”

Tomás García Madrid, CEO and Vice-Chairman of the OHL Group, has participated in the Global Forum on Engineering & Public Works, held today at Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo in Santander. The Forum was attended by the Minister of Public Works, Ana Pastor; the president of the Association of Civil Engineers (AICCP), Vicent Esteban; the vice-president of the School of Civil Engineer (CICCP), José Polimón; and the dean for Cantabria demarcation of the School of Civil Engineers, Enrique Conde, amongst others.  

OHL’s CEO took part in the Spanish construction companies: a model of international success panel and highlighted that, in the scope of transport infrastructures, “we need to focus on incentivizing public-private ventures, emphasizing connectivity and mobility”. Furthermore, he added that a commitment to infrastructures should focus on “improving efficiency in planning and management, supporting transport intermodality, reinforcing connections between railways and ports and promoting a liberalization of the railways sector, already underway in relation to passenger transport”. 

During his speech, Tomás García Madrid also referred to the international success model provided by Spanish construction companies and also highlighted the main infrastructure projects that OHL is executing abroad.

Regarding the contribution of infrastructures to Spain’s growth, he mentioned that “for each million invested in infrastructures over the last few years 14 jobs have been created and the yield on each euro invested is nearly double- 1.9 euros- in economic terms”; he also added that improved infrastructures in Spain has been essential for “vital sectors such as tourism, towards a new productive model following the 2008 recession, in order to lower road accident rates and generate employment”. Furthermore, he pointed out that “the construction sector, after agriculture and cattle farming, is the one that generates the most employment for each euro invested and the one with the highest multiplying effect on economic growth”.  

Tomás García Madrid pointed out that despite the fall in Spain’s historic infrastructure deficit, there is still a shortage of “equipment and maintenance, water, energy, social infrastructure, the environment, urban planning, telecommunications and digital surroundings”. 

As regards infrastructure investment policies, he pointed out that during the economic crisis countries such as Germany and France have continued with sustained public investment policies over the last twenty years, between 60,000 and 80,000 million euros/year, whereas in Spain investments have been made to respond to performance in various economic cycles: 55,000 million euros in 2009 and less than 25,000 million euros since 2012.

OHL’s CEO, Tomás García Madrid, during his speech at the II Global Forum on Engineering and Public Works, held in Santander.