The Ministry of Industry presents the Recre-ad cross-border project to promote agricultural and digital entrepreneurial ecosystems
The public entity CEIN is the lead organization for this initiative, which will run through June 2028 and is part of the second call for proposals under POCTEFA
On Tuesday, the Department of Industry and Ecological and Digital Business Transition of the Government of Navarre presented the cross-border Recre-ad project, which is led by the public entity European Business and Innovation Center of Navarre (CEIN).
This project aims to develop a cross-border network that fosters collaboration, mutual understanding, and joint initiatives among agri-food and digital SMEs and startups in the participating regions, with the goal of accelerating the transfer of R&D results to the market in these key sectors.
This morning, the project’s kickoff meeting was held at CEIN’s headquarters in Noáin, with the participation of Garbiñe Basterra, Director General of Energy and Digital Transition, Business R&D&I, and Entrepreneurship. During the presentation, Basterra emphasized that “the agricultural and digital sectors are part of our Smart and Sustainable Specialization Strategy, S4, and are economic activities that, by their very nature, are destined to operate beyond the local level, making it essential to leverage cross-border synergies.”
In addition to CEIN, Recre-ad’s partners include the Economic Development Agency of La Rioja (Ader), the Aragonese Institute for Development (IAF), the Toulouse Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Neste Barousse Community of Municipalities (Occitania). The project also includes eight partner organizations from different regions within the cross-border area: the Government of Navarre, the Álava Business and Innovation Center (BIC Araba), the Government of Catalonia, the Occitanie Midi-Pyrénées Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Ariège Attractivité Agency, the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, the Government of La Rioja, and the European Business and Innovation Center of Aragon.
Recre-ad, which will run through June 2028, includes, among other initiatives, the organization of cross-border meetings focused on the agri-food and digital sectors, as well as a hybrid program aimed at people from all regions who wish to acquire the skills needed to lead startups. It will also promote the creation of a cross-border community of companies and startups for collaboration on open innovation, particularly in the agri-food and digital sectors, and through initiatives addressing sustainability.
The Recre-ad project has a total budget of €1,719,560.69 and has been 65% co-financed by the European Union through the Interreg VI-A Spain-France-Andorra Program (POCTEFA 2021-2027). The objective of POCTEFA is to strengthen economic and social integration in the Spain-France-Andorra border region.
