16 May, 2025Today, the general assemblies of several associations belonging to AFM Cluster were held at the Kursaal, as part of Advanced Manufacturing Day 2025. The event was attended by the Basque Government's Minister for Industry, Energy Transition and Sustainability, Mikel Jauregui, who was accompanied by the Deputy General of Gipuzkoa, Eider Mendoza, the Mayor of Donostia-San Sebastián, Eneko Goia, and the Director General for Industry and SMEs, Jordi García Brustenga.
The General Assemblies of five of the associations that make up AFM Cluster were held throughout the morning, specifically AFM, AFMEC, ESKUIN, UPTEK and STECH.
The ESKUIN assembly renewed its board of managers, which is currently made up of representatives from the following companies: BIANDITZ, IREGA, NECO, SUPER-EGO TOOLS, TESA.
The ADDIMAT assembly, held yesterday, 15 May, as part of the association's tenth anniversary celebrations, re-elected Virgilio García, CEO of Novaindef, the Defence and Space Division of the Sicnova Group, as its president. Last April, Sicnova inaugurated the Centre for the Development of Special Applications and Process Certification for the Military and Defence Sectors (Cedaec) in Linares, equipped with 3D metal and polymer printing machines, machining centres, reverse engineering systems, advanced post-processing, measurement and testing systems.
The board of management of ADDIMAT was also renewed, currently comprising representatives from the following companies: ARCELORMITTAL, HP, HYPERION, IBARMIA, IZADI, MAUSA, OPTIMUS 3D, ROVALMA, UPV/EHU and AITIIP.
Following the general assemblies, more than 500 attendees gathered for a joint event: “Advanced Manufacturing Day 2025”. The event opened with a presentation on the economic outlook for the sector by Xabier Ortueta, CEO of AFM Cluster, followed by a speech by Rafael Doménech, Head of Economic Analysis at BBVA Research, who offered his perspective on the global economic context. Doménech is also a professor of Fundamentals of Economic Analysis at the University of Valencia, with a distinguished career as a researcher and advisor at national and international institutions, and author of various publications on growth, human capital and economic policy.
The day also included an inspiring conversation between Chilean writer Benjamín Labatut and publisher and teacher Álvaro de los Ángeles, on the boundaries between the human and the artificial. Labatut, author of The MANIAC —a work that explores the limits of reason and artificial intelligence through the figure of mathematician John von Neumann— is one of the most prominent voices in contemporary literature. De los Ángeles, for his part, is a curator, publisher and teacher, with a career focused on contemporary art and its critical and contextual dimensions.
To close the event, the association paid tribute to Antonio Postigo, managing director of MAQUINSER and a much-loved and respected figure in the sector, presenting him with the AFM gold badge.
The event was also attended by Andoitz Korta, Deputy Minister for Industry of the Basque Government, Unai Andueza, Deputy for Economic Promotion and Strategic Projects of Gipuzkoa, Marisol Garmendia, Government Delegate in the Basque Country, and Jon Ansoleaga, director general of the SPRI, among others.
From the business world, the presidents of the AFM Cluster associations, José Pérez Berdud of AFM, the vice-presidents of AFM, Carmen Pinto and César Garbalena, the CEO of ANMOPYC, Jorge Cuartero, the director general of the Energy Cluster, José Ignacio Hormaeche, the president of FVEM, Begoña San Miguel, the CEO of FVEM, Adolfo Rey Gómez, the CEO of ADEGI, José Miguel Ayerza, and the president of the Mondragón Corporation, Pello Rodríguez, as well as representatives from numerous companies associated with AFM Cluster.
