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CaixaBank and the Ivie have renewed their collaboration agreement on the study of the competitiveness of Valencian firms through the GECE Observatory

The GECE Observatory program has been extended for an additional 12 months, during which more useful resources will be made available to support the analysis of competitiveness in the Valencian Community

CaixaBank and Ivie have signed the renewal of their collaboration agreement to maintain the activity of the Corporate Governance, Strategy and Competitiveness Observatory (GECE Observatory). This project started in 2017 with the goal of examining the competitiveness of Valencian firms over time and the factors that contribute to its improvement. Furthermore, the GECE Observatory prepares reports to assess firm competitiveness, at no cost, for companies that request to participate in this initiative. Currently, 125 businesses in the Valencian Community are involved in the program.

At the signing of this agreement, which extends the Observatory’s activity until June 2024, were Olga García (Territorial Director of CaixaBank in the Valencia and Murcia regions) and Felipe Pulido (Commercial Director of Corporate Banking in the Valencian Community); and representing the Ivie, Pilar Choren (Managing Director), Joaquín Maudos (Research Deputy Director) and Alejandro Escribá (Associate Researcher and Coordinator of the GECE Observatory).

Following the dissemination of the latest ‘GECE Observatory’ Analysis, which focuses on the international positioning of companies, new material will be developed focusing on the three main areas of the project: governance, strategy and competitiveness of Valencian companies. In addition to studying and researching competitiveness, the GECE Observatory also disseminates the results so that they can be used by businesses and public institutions to improve decision-making processes aimed at promoting competitiveness levels in the Valencian Community.

Olga García emphasized that “the initiatives developed by the ‘GECE Observatory’ to assist businesses in the Valencian Community and increase their competitiveness are very significant and, therefore, we are renewing our collaboration”. She continues saying, “the Observatory enables us to actively research the effect that changes in business characteristics, strategies adopted and governing and leadership bodies can have on competitiveness”.

According to Ivie’s Managing Director “the project supports one of the Institute’s research areas that examines how businesses can compete to gain larger market shares both domestically and internationally to analyze their productivity, growth strategies, profitability, and financial stability by means of microdata.”