Council of Ministers appoints Pablo Hernández President of the Consortium of CanariasZEC

ZEC Promoción

The vice-presidency of the Agency falls to María José Miranda Martell

The organism’s close challenge is to contribute to the economic reactivation

Canary Islands.- The Council of Ministers of today, Tuesday, January 12, 2021 has appointed Pablo Hernández González-Barreda president of the Consortium of the Canary Islands Special Zone (ZEC) at the proposal of the Government of the Canary Islands and the Ministry of Finance. Thus, Hernández will become the youngest president at the head of the organization. The up to now general director of Modernization of the regional Executive, will lead the ZEC at a crucial moment for the organization as a fundamental tool to reactivate the economy of the Canary Islands.

According to the Government of the Canary Islands, Hernández González-Barreda has “international legal and fiscal experience, which makes him the ideal profile to comply with the objectives at a time when the health and economic crisis are on the agenda. political and administrative of both the Government of the Canary Islands and the state ”.

Trajectory of the new president of the Consortium

Pablo Hernández González-Barreda was born in La Orotava, Tenerife, in 1987. He has a degree in Law, a Master’s in Taxation and International Taxation and a doctorate in Law from the Universidad Pontificia Comillas. Since 2010, he has been a professor of Financial and Tax Law at the Universidad Pontificia Comillas. In addition, he has been a visiting professor and academic at numerous universities and research centers in Spain and abroad, among which the Universities of Harvard, Oxford and Vienna stand out. He has also served as an academic transfer consultant for some companies, consultancies, and governments. He is the author of two monographs, co-director of three treaties and two monographs, and of various articles on the prevention of abuse in international taxation and the taxation of the financial sector. Since 2019, he served as general director of Modernization and Quality of the Services of the Government of the Canary Islands from where he has contributed to coordinating the attention to citizens, data management and digitization during the health crisis due to COVID19.

 “La ZEC tiene que ser punta de lanza de la diversificación y la reactivación económica”

María José Miranda Martel has a degree in Business Administration and Management, specializing in Marketing Management (University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria) and a Diploma in Business Sciences (University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria). She has a doctorate in Economics and Management from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Master’s Degree in International Business Management (UDIMA, Madrid), Master’s in International Business (MIB) from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

Professor and researcher at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC) (October 2018 – Present). She has devoted herself to research in the field of international business, foreign direct investment, international entrepreneurship, and migration.

She is part of the International Strategy and Business Research Group (ENI), Department of Economics and Business Management, of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and of the Analysis of Migration, International economics and Knowledge Research Group, of the University from Granada. Her work as a teacher has been developed in the area of Business Organization and Management, at the Faculty of Economics, Business and Tourism of the ULPGC, linked to business internationalization, human resources and business organization.

Within the Canary Islands Fair Institution (INFECAR), she has been Director of External Relations, Corporate Strategy and Marketing (September 2019 – March 2020), Director of Marketing, Communication and External Resources (October 2017 – September 2019), Head of Marketing and Communication (December 2016 – October 2017), Technical Director of Fair Competitions (March 2016 – December 2016).

Between July 2011 and 2016, she was in charge of the direction of the Department of Foreign Trade, of the Official Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Services and Navigation of Fuerteventura.

“The ZEC has to be the spearhead of diversification and economic reactivation”

The ZEC closes the financial year 2020 with a positive balance despite the social and economic situation. The situation has led the organization to reinforce promotion through remote channels with good results. The newly appointed will have the challenge of continuing and deepening the modernization and digitization of the ZEC to contribute to the economic reactivation.

For the new president of the Consortium, the ZEC is the fundamental tool for diversification, dynamization and internationalization of the Canarian economy. “The ZEC is fundamental and indispensable for the reactivation that we need. With the current crisis, the need to diversify the economy has been demonstrated more than ever, and there the ZEC has an unmatched appeal in Europe. The ZEC has to be the spearhead of the reactivation and for this it has to coordinate with all the actors, particularly with those that generate knowledge and training,  which is what attracts the most dynamic company profile ”, he stated.

Link to the council of ministers