Mafex celebrates its XIV general meeting

The Spanish Railway Association held on June 30th, 2016, its fourteenth General Meeting, which gathered a large group of member companies from the association. During the ceremony held in Madrid, the activities of the Association in the previous year and the actions planned for the second half of the year were well received, including the participation at InnoTrans presented -where the participation of over 50 companies is coordinated by Mafex, occupying a space of 2,304 m2- and trade delegations to countries like Sweden, Denmark, Chile and Peru.

Moreover, in the framework of this meeting, new companies joining Mafex since the General Meeting of the previous year were presented: CAF TURKEY & ENGINEERING, COMSA CORPORATION, PRETENSADOS DEL NORTE and NEWTEK SOLIDOS, all companies based or with implantation in Spain and which have a significant rail exports.

Currently the association has 72 members, whose railway turnover in 2015 amounted to more tan 4,800 million -of which 65% is made outside Spain- and employ more than 22,000 people.

25th General Assembly of UNIFE in Ámsterdam

Two representatives of Mafex attended  the General Assembly of UNIFE, the European Rail Association, held in Amsterdam from June 23rd to 24th, where more than 180 leaders of the European railway industry assisted.

Also, several major CEOs of European industry and heads of major local operators as well as senior officials from the European Commission, the European Parliament, the European Investment Bank, the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment and Shift2Rail program were present.

We must highlights the statement made by Martina Werner, Member of the European Parliament and presenter for the recently adopted resolution on the Competitiveness of the European Rail Industry. This resolution will help strengthen the sector with coordinated policy measures from the EU against the growing challenges and global competition to which the European rail industry is facing, especially large Asian manufacturers.

For more information see the interview realized to Ms. Werner in this issue. The venue chosen by the members of the European association to hold its next General Assembly 2017 will be Madrid, Spain.