S aúdo - Feira Internacional de Galicia. FIG Silleda

6 I
GREETINGS fROm ThE PRESIDENT Of ThE REGIONAL GOvERNmENT Of GALICIA
Alberto Núñez Feijóo
Greetings Mr.
There are those who see in our Galician villages an old
fashioned way of life, but I think that there lies a background
of creativity and consistency, elements that are closely
related to the cultural, economic and social boom of Galicia.
The countryland has greatly contributed to the modernisation
of Galicia, and still has much more to provide to us all.
In that promotion and contribution work to develop our
economy, a key role is played by this International Agricultural
Machinery Show (Cimag, 2011) which holding its fifth edition
this year, has turned our Galician Community into a refence
guide for the agricultural sector. That is why I welcome,
through these lines, the opportunity to participate in an
event that undoubtedly contributes to the revitalisation of the
primary sector in Galicia.
Initiatives like this make a perfect complement to policies with
which, from the Galician Regional Government, translate our
firm commitment to the development of the Galician rural land.
Because we believe that without a strong rural Galicia, Galicia
will always be hurt.
We reject paternalistic views and advocate to giving
prominence to courageous and imaginative enterprises that
will lead us out of difficulties and allow us to move forward,
always starting from the basis of dialogue and consensus
maintained with the key players, who are the Galician
farmers. Thus we did when we approved the project for the
dairy industry, for which we up-fronted the payments to the
Common Agricultural Policy, or when we fueled government
support directed to farms modernization, or when we focused
on the territorial balance or were committed to obliterate
the digital breach that until now had been a drag to the
development of the primary sector in Galicia.
And this is the way it will continue to be, so we can make
smaller and smaller the social, economic and cultural
differences that exist between rural and urban areas of
Galicia. Farming is a part of us in Galicia because we all
carry farming in our present or in our past. In those roots
lay our strength; it is the impulse that brings us to rise to the
difficulties and tell us that there is a promising future ahead if
we work united.