Amurrio, July 17th. Amurrio Ferrocarril y Equipos has received today the visit of the Regional Minister of Economic Development and Competitiveness, Arantza Tapia, who has been able to see first hand the important projects in which the company is working. Accompanied by the Director of Industrial Development, Alejandro López Cárcamo, she witnessed the complex production process of turnouts and crossings, mainly for the railway network.
The President of Amurrio Ferrocarril y Equipos, Josu de Lapatza, and the General Manager of the company, Jon de Lapatza, explained to the Basque Minister the projects in which they are involved, such as the construction of the high speed line that will link the cities of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia. Later, they visited the factory.
Amurrio Ferrocarril y Equipos is a company specialized in the design and manufacture of turnouts and frogs for the railway sector, occupying a reference position in the international arena. Founded in 1880, it currently employs 157 people and exports around 60% of its production. It closed 2014 with a turnover of around 30 million euros.
Tapia values the capacity for diversification thanks to R&D.
Arantza Tapia has highlighted that, in a context of obvious difficulties as a result of the crisis, Amurrio Ferrocarril y Equipos has been able to diversify a production in which it combines its more traditional activity with the opportunities offered by more advanced sectors such as the auxiliary industry linked to the automotive industry. An adaptation that only companies with a clear commitment to R&D have been able to carry out and assume.
He also highlighted the efforts made by the company to maintain employment, demonstrating that it takes care of its workforce as its main asset for the company’s competitiveness.
Tapia has positively valued the international presence of Amurrio Ferrocarril y Equipos. In this sense, he recalled the business and institutional mission carried out this year to India, where the Prime Minister of Maharastra stressed his interest in increasing the number of Basque companies to contribute to the improvement of urban development and services in that state and the country as a whole. Reasons of opportunity, he said, are opening up for companies that produce and/or trade in complex countries, but which are becoming more and more familiar to Basque companies.
