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A Special International Report Prepared byThe Washington Times Advertising Department
Published on May 28, 1999
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Advertisers (1) Associated Banks
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Voices of Andorra's Future The following are excerpts from over 40 exclusive interviews The Washington Times conducted with ranking officials and business leaders in the Principality of Andorra.
Among today's dominant cultures, such as the United States, we Andorrans feel we are the last bastion resisting the lost of values and identity. We absorb much from neighboring and distant cultures and we ourselves have an enormous mixture of cultures, but Andorran nationalism has been a constant for centuries.
Andorra is like a testing ground for modern society, where there is neither exclusion nor margination, where there is economic growth and material abundance.
Historical changes are taking place in Andorra. A radical change in the mentality, habits and customs of Andorrans is necessary if we are to be a modern and competitive country. The Andorran strategy is to strengthen itself as a welcoming country.
Andorra is peculiar in every way, even in education, where two foreign public education systems exist side by side together with Andorra's own.
The proximity of, and direct contact between, elected officials and the people has facilitated the country's political evolution, still in progress.
The diversification of Andorra's economy cannot be based on fiscal difference. Andorra's fiscal reform must be done and it will be done. We must anticipate events. We must be courageous and go to Brussels, Madrid, Paris, even Washington and New York. We don't want to become a parasitic economy that lives on the back of Spain and France.
Andorra has always had the spirit of innovation and openness. Its economic miracle is in its people, who have always been visionaries and free-thinkers. That is the genesis for the country's economic development.
In the long term, Andorra will have no other option but to integrate itself into the European process. Meanwhile, we have to cleverly negotiate cooperation and association agreements to ensure Andorra's survival and economic prosperity
We are at the end of an era, in that commerce has been the central support of our economy and has engendered profits in other sectors. Andorra cannot wind down its tourist and commerce industries. It's a chicken-and-egg situation, where no one knows which came first.
Andorra is a great commercial center and must be managed accordingly. Commerce generates wealth and contributes to state coffers. The government should content costs so as not to necessitate new income.
Today Brussels dictates regulations, not just for Andorra but for France and Spain as well. Although the Principality is not part of the European Union, we have to adapt to Europe's new integration process, to be able to react, although it may be a difficult transformation to manage.
Foreign investment can be a dangerous inheritance for Andorra, but the option of coming and establishing oneself in Andorra, bringing one's experience and know-how, is not just important, it's paramount.
The diversification of the Andorran economy is an obligation for businesses and for the state, but does not imply renunciation of what we already have.
We cannot continue navel-gazing. The nation has to open up to foreign investment, but it must be controlled. Andorra is a small and fragile country and its presence must be regulated, to avoid our nation falling into foreign hands.
The government is very much aware that Andorra's future correlates well with the information age. The development of new technologies is the ideal complement for our economy and will offer new opportunities to our youth.
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Table of Contents (1) A young country with an ancient history |
