Catalonia comes to Birmingham
20 November 2017
Catalonia is an open trading economy, specialised in international trade and with an efficient mix of far-reaching infrastructures. Catalan exports represent 26% of all of Spanish exports. In 2016, Catalan exports grew by 2% and generated a record-breaking €65.1bn for the economy.
Barcelona connects to 400 milion consumers in Europe and North Africa in under 48 hours. Geography has played a favourable role with regard to the Catalan economy. Its location in the Mediterranean and his close links to Latin America have made it a top rank location to distribute goods and services the main markets.
With state of the art infrastructures, the logistics sector in Catalonia is a sound sector for foreign investment. Hutchison Port Holdings -in the Port of Barcelona-, the chemical Basf –in Tarragona- or companies like Amazon, Mango or GM rely on Catalan logistics potential. According to fDi Markets, Catalonia is the third European Continental region for foreign investment in logistics. The sector provides skilled jobs for 186,500 people in almost 39,000 companies specialising in different areas. Specialized supply chain solutions are available for chemical, automotive and food and drink sectors.
Catalonia enjoys a highly diversified and open economy, with a significant prevalence of industrial and logistics activity. A strategic location plus its comprehensive network of infrastructures – land, air and sea – make it Europe’s southern gateway and the centre for distribution in the Mediterranean. Barcelona is the only city in Southern Europe with all transport modes (port, airport, highway, railway) in a 12-kilometre radius.
With over 44 million passengers a year, Barcelona Airport is the best airport to connect to the rest of Europe. Furthermore, its importance as a freight centre is growing, particularly in markets outside the EU.
The Port of Barcelona is Spain’s leading port in terms of the value of goods handled. Of particular note are the two container terminals, one of which is semi-automated and features one of the highest rates of productivity on the continent. Barcelona is also the leading European port in terms of cruise traffic and is leader in vehicle traffic.
The Port of Barcelona is a highly competitive facility. Its Port Community offers importers and exporters full logistics services to the entire world. 100 regular shipping lines connect it with 200 ports on five continents. Its so-called sea highways that connect daily with the main ports of Italy and North Africa are noteworthy. Barcelona is the only Spanish port directly connected to the European rail network (UIC gauge).
The Port of Tarragona is a Southern Europe's largest chemical products hub with excellent facilities for chemical companies.
Kindly supplied by Multimodal
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