Andoni Garca (Berkoa): “Connections made can lead to new tasks”

Bilbao – Andoni Garcia is the Director of Berkoa, a company from Elgoibar that has been around for six years, but combines the experience and clients of previous companies that were the origin of a company that presented two projects at the Biennale: on the one hand, a rotary friction welding machine “unique in the state”, and on the one hand Others, multi-purpose devices intended for Basque vocational training schools, a tender they obtained from the Basque government through a public tender. During these six years, Berkoa furthered its course of internationalization, through projects in France, the United Kingdom and the United States, among other countries.

“We take care of the design, manufacture, installation and commissioning of special machines that adapt to what our customers demand of us,” said Berkoa Director, who defends the importance of the Biennial as a face-to-face coordination. “The balance of this biennial is very positive. Cataloging the exhibition on an economic level is impossible for us. Operations are not closed these days, but the contacts we have here are very important because, in the medium term, they can lead to new commissions for us.”

Garcia asserts that two years into the epidemic “has not been easy at all,” but he is confident – with some nuances – ahead. “The entire sector is going through a significant uptake of orders, with turnover going to be record, but results should be seen towards the end of the year, because prices are going up and deadlines are getting a lot shorter,” he says.