The Port of Barcelona’s nineteenth mission took place from 11 to 17 November 2017 in the cities of Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Montevideo (Uruguay) to foster foreign trade between Catalonia and the Río de Plata area countries to promote new business opportunities and establish or consolidate commercial ties with these two countries.
In light of the political situation in Catalonia, and by order of the Ministries of Public Works and of Foreign Affairs, the mission did not involve any institutional representative or anyone from the Port of Barcelona. The delegation comprised companies from the Port Community (freight forwarders, customs agents and logistics operators), import-export companies (software, aggregates and consultancy sector), and headed by the vice president of the Port Community Steering Council, accompanied by the presidents of the associations of the sector.
Speaking before an audience of 300 businessmen from Argentina and Uruguay, the vice president of the Port Community Steering Council presented the Port of Barcelona’s strategic positioning as a gateway for goods from the ports of Buenos Aires and Montevideo - whether their goods are shipped to the Iberian Peninsula, Southern Europe or North Africa - and also as the most competitive port of origin for exports from Catalonia and the European continent.
A technical customs seminar was organised in Argentina, attended by more than 90 professionals from the sector, with speakers from the Argentinian Association of International Freight Agents; the presidents of the Association of Customs Agents of Uruguay and of Argentina, and their counterparts from Barcelona, the president of the Association of International Freight Forwarders of Barcelona and the president of the Association of Customs Agents of Barcelona.
In Buenos Aires, the business delegation visited and learned about the operations of the Hutchison terminal in the capital’s port, which is the only one with the capacity to consolidate and deconsolidate containers, and were received by the general manager of Buenos Aires Container Services - BACTSSA and the terminal manager.
During the business day in Montevideo, the president of the National Institute of Logistics of Uruguay (Inalog), the National Director of Customs of Uruguay, the President of the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the president of the National Port Administration of Uruguay.
Despite the exceptional nature of this mission, especially in the city of Buenos Aires, and the last-minute change in format, we consider that the overall outcome was satisfactory once again. As part of the mission, the associations of the Port Community signed a cooperation agreement with their counterparts; in addition, the delegation’s member companies held several meetings, many of which were the result of the personalised agenda prepared by ACCIÓ.
The Port Community Steering Council aims to enable cooperation between Barcelona Port Authority (APB) and all the public and private institutions performing their activity in the port area.
Two meetings of the Executive Committee were held during 2017 to present the progress and work achieved by each of the working groups:
Presentation of the report on “Sectoral Sustainability of the Port of Barcelona”, a document setting out the objectives of sustainable growth from an economic, social and environmental point of view, which responds to the expectations of the various stakeholders of the Port Community.
Preparation of the 2016 Sectoral Sustainability Report, which sets 142 indicators to show the commitment to sustainability, to create links with business and define a plan of action, among other objective.
This working group intends to help students to reconcile training in educational centres with that provided in real work environments.
Participation of Port Community companies and students involved in the analysis and conclusions of a survey to provide experience as a school.
Activation of the Label to vessel services, presented to shipowners along with the administrative management of the stopover. This functions via a monitoring committee and a working group on vessel services, a structure that sets goals for reviewing and periodically evaluating the results of the various elements of the new Quality Plan and propose improvements.
Working seminar with 84 participants 8 working groups and 31 proposals presented. The objective of these conferences (a total of 18, held since 2011 with the participation of 398 technical experts and specialists) is to publicise the scope of the Quality Label and its annual results and to develop the proactive role of the companies that take part.
IESE-organised Assessment Study on the value provided by the Quality Label to companies and to the Port of Barcelona.
Agreement with AECO, a State-wide association made up of more than 28,000 companies from various sectors of activity to receive periodic information on the general progression of the indicators.
Revision of the current regulations governing the Quality Label, to amend the structure and channels for approval with a dynamic management tool. The main new elements are the inclusion of vessel service commitments, the validity of biannual certification and the updating of the processes.
By the end of 2017 there were 77 companies covered and administrations working with the Quality Label in container traffic and 7 in vessel services.
This group presents the model of innovation for the Port of Barcelona based on the smart or smartly efficient city concept. In the port area, this is reflected in initiatives such as Portic, Efficiency Network and EMAS, as well as in these projects:
PortInnova Project. The principal objectives of this third edition were to make the Port of Barcelona a meeting point for the development of high-impact projects, develop 21st century educational skills through real challenges, bring the needs of the productive fabric closer to the capacities of vocational training students and increase the visibility of student talent to the companies and organisations involved.
In its first edition, Port Challenge Barcelona aimed to find innovative ideas using the new technologies to impact on the Port ecosystem, the citizens interacting with the Port, the workers, etc.
Barcelona Tech City presented the winning project of the Port Innova (second edition).