The Electoral Assembly of the Spanish Confederation of Commerce (CEC) has appointed yesterday Rafael Torres as the new president of the organization. Torres’s candidacy has received the support of almost 80% of the member organizations for a mandate that will last for the next four years.
Torres, who had held the position of president since July after the resignation of Pedro Campo from the presidency of the entity, has addressed the Assembly to thank you for the support you have received and influence the most important aspects of what will be your line of work at the head of the business association.
“I am convinced of the advantages of commercial associationism and, above all, of how important SMEs, micro-SMEs and self-employed businesses are for this country. Our sector represents 10.7% of the GDP and 4.9% of the Gross Added Value” pointed out in his speech.
The new president has emphasized the important challenges that the commercial sector must address “and that take on even more relevance due to the economic situation in which we find ourselves”. At this point, Torres has made reference, among other aspects, to the inflationary scenario with “bottlenecks in global trade due to the energy crisis, rising prices of raw materials and food”to the “loss of purchasing power of familieswhich some experts have already estimated at 11,000 million euros in 2021 “already “some public accounts that represent the higher EU deficit due to the impact of the crisis”.
Regarding the imminent lines of work to be tackled by the CEC as the most representative trade organization, Torres highlighted the labor reform and the situation of the self-employed in commerce, digitization and the regulations that directly affect the sector, such as the waste law and the APIES.
Lastly, the president of the CEC has expressed his willingness to intensify direct dialogue with the Public Administration and organizations“we have before us the opportunity to combine synergies, add support and seek alliances to achieve greater achievements and use that resilient capacity that has always characterized us as a sector”, all in accordance with the relevance and weight of trade in the economy.
Extensive experience and knowledge of the associative fabric
Rafael Torres has a degree in Business Sciences, his training is complemented by an MBA from the Instituto de Empresa. His deep knowledge of the commerce sector and its associative fabric is determined both by his professional activity and trade entrepreneur in a 125-year-old family business, as well as for its strong link to the defense of trade from different organizations.
towers is President of the Confederation of Commerce of the Valencian Community (CONFECOMERÇ CV). In addition, he is a member of the CEOE Board of Directors, a member of the Executive Committee of Cepyme, a member of the Executive Committee and vice president of the Trade Commission of the Business Confederation of the Valencian Community (CEV), a member of the Valencia Tourist Board and of the Fair Valencia, as well as the Chamber of Commerce Assembly.