I would like to start by thanking the previous president or past president (as americans said) of EAPA my dear friend François Chaignon.
I think it is fair to acknowledge the work he has done in the last two years, the situations he has dealt with, the new EAPA initiatives carried out during his presidence, the excellent transition since the departure of Egbert Beuving, the consolidation of our Secretary General Carsten Karcher through these years and the incorporation of Breixo Gomez. All this in a difficult economic context, aggravated by the pandemic, but which for EAPA continues to offer an economic financial situation of tranquility and stability.
On the other hand I would like to report something that perhaps most of you do not know. Asefma was created one year before EAPA was established exactly 49 years ago. Moreover, Asefma was created because Spain wanted to be part of the founding countries of EAPA.
And Asefma was one of the founders of EAPA in 1973.
48 years later, I am proud to be the first Spanish president of EAPA. Beyond my personal satisfaction, I want to express today Asefma's satisfaction for being one of those founders and being able to reach today the Presidency of this great association, EAPA.
I will work as I always have, providing new ideas to EAPA and developing strategies that can be of use to all EAPA members.
My personal thoughts are the sector needs to change and adapt quickly to the changes that society demands of us. It is necessary to achieve progress in the digital transformation, relying on innovation and facilitating the circular economy and sustainability.
In order to conclude, I would like to put in common a fact of which I am firmly convinced. In the past for many years and in many countries the goal of our activity was construction and within this concept we offered our construction materials such as bituminous mixtures.
Then , during the last 10 years in many countries the road network has been practically completed and our main interest is to show that this road network must be preserved and updated to meet new demands. And reduce the emissions of the vehicles that circulate through them.
Well, from my point of view, the electric car, the autonomous car, the connected vehicles and a long etc. new situations force us to consider a much more important factor than the construction and the maintenance. We, the paving sector, must be relevant actors, in the development of mobility, of the new mobility, and from my point of view, we can only achieve that by finding some support in digitalization, innovation and sustainability.
Exciting years await us. You can be assured of all my support and encouragement and I thank you in advance for your effort and collaboration.
Thank you very much !!
