Nuría Montes, the regional minister in charge of Innovation, Industry, Trade and Tourism for the Generalitat, is set to headline a new edition of the Alicante Forum this coming Friday. She will lay out the key actions of her department, which plays a central role in shaping the current executive government’s economic policy. The event will take place at the El Maestral restaurant starting at 9:30 a.m., organized by INFORMACIÓN, Prensa Ibérica, the Club INFORMACIÓN, informacióntv, the University of Alicante, the CEV, Baleària, Eiffage Infraestructuras, and Carmencita.
Esther Guilabert, the secretary-general of the regional business association, based in Elx, will introduce the speaker. Montes will then engage in a dialogue with Toni Cabot, the director of INFORMACIÓN. Under the title “Strategic Lines of the Community’s Business Policy,” Montes will review the pillars guiding her department’s work. In the innovation sphere, the focus includes fostering a robust regional innovation ecosystem, reforming the grant allocation model to emphasize competitive funding, expanding digital hubs at regional ports, and revamping Ciudad de la Luz to boost cultural and research capacity.
In these early months of her mandate, Montes has signaled the start of a reindustrialization strategy built on sectoral clusters, as well as a push to develop industrial land, with particular attention to the Alicante province, which has faced notable land scarcity for industrial use.
On the tourism front, the regional administration aims to keep growing visitor numbers while ensuring the growth is sustainable. This involves concerted efforts to address the informal economy as a barrier to fair competition and legitimate economic activity.
Montes, who holds a degree in Law from the University of Alicante, has spent almost her entire professional career with the Valencia Hospitality and Tourism Business Association (Hosbec), where she served as secretary-general before taking on her current role.