AEQT

The Chemical Mediterranean Cluster has been presented during the period of a new edition of Logichem speech, one of the most important meetings at international level which is celebrated in the chemical and logistic sector.

The general manager of Port de Tarragona, Francesc Sánchez, has been the person responsible for pronounce the speech about ChemMed, who has revealed the power of  Tarragona like a chemical reference hub located in south of Europe. The presentation has given an overview about how industry, port, and all the agents that go around this sector in Tarragona have united to the project in order to position to the wider world the Tarragona brand like a suitable destination for new investments.

ChemMed, besides the fact that it has presented officially, it has presented through yesterday and today, with its own stand in this meeting.  The expedition of the Cluster, leaded by the general manager of AEQT, Teresa Pallarès, and by the general manager of the Port, Francesc Sánchez, has been made known the potentials of the Tarragona chemical pole and its logistic strength through the Port de Tarragona.

LogiChem is a key area for the responsible of the value chain, logistic and for the chemical manufacturers, in general. It is about the only European meeting, focused only and exclusively on the business channeling function which born from de supply chain, and where concentrated more than 200 leaders from the sector on world-wide scale.

This afternoon, it has been celebrated the first ChemMed Tarragona Assembly, the Chemical Mediterranean Cluster. The ceremony has carried out at half past four in the Autoritat Portuaria de Tarragona facilities, founding member in the Cluster.

The president of ChemMed Tarragona, Jesús Loma-Ossorio ( AEQT) and the vice president, Josep Andreu ( Port de Tarragona) have been responsible for make the welcomes to attendees of the meeting. Moreover, the two highest responsible of the Cluster have gone over the 2014 agenda, the first ChemMed year of life which was born in May twenty-eighth two thousand fourteen  in an act celebrated in Palau de Fires I Congressos of Tarragona, in the presence of millions of people.

After that, the Cluster’s treasurer , and general manager of the Port de Tarragona, Francesc Sánchez, has gone over the financial statement of 2014, and also has explained the expected budget for this year 2015 which is underway.

Finally, the manager director of ChemMed, Teresa Pallarès, has explained the Cluster action plan that is expected for this year 2015. In this explanation, besides the expected promotion actions, Pallarès has informed partners about the impending publication services catalogue and about the preparation of the strategic process plan which is expected to see the light this coming summer.

Today, representatives of the ChemMed cluster presented ChemMed in France as well as in Germany. The two delegations highlighted Tarragona’s desire to continue leading the chemical sector in southern Europe and attracting investments related to the chemical industry.

Chemical Valley, France

This afternoon the president of ChemMed I and the chairman of the AEQT presented the Mediterranean chemical cluster, ChemMed Tarragona, in Lyon, France. Jesús Loma Ossorio gave a presentation within the framework of the conference sponsored by the “Agence d’urbanisme pour le développement de l’agglomération lyonnaise”, an organisation that promotes economic and regional development. In his speech, the president of the cluster outlined the competitive advantages of Tarragona’s chemical hub, the most important of its kind in southern Europe. Loma explained that the cluster is the result of the union of stakeholders related to the chemical sector in the region, led by the AEQT and the Port of Tarragona. After his corporate presentation, the director of Bayer MaterialScience for the Iberian Peninsula region spoke about urban development in Tarragona and its links with the chemical industry. Loma explained that Tarragona uses a collaborative model in which all parties are heard, which has created a harmonious relationship between the general public, the chemical industry and other stakeholders and the region’s business community.

After the ChemMed Tarragona speech, Werner Buch from the Frankfurt City Planning Office gave a presentation focusing on the balanced relationship between urban growth in his area and the different local business enterprises. Prior to these two speeches, the hosts also took their turns at the podium. Vincent Couturier and Lionel Arambourg briefly introduced the conference.

Couturier and Arambourg used the opportunity to present Lyon’s Chemical Valley to the members of ChemMed that same morning. During the trip, visitors had the chance to see the facilities of the IFP (the French Institute of Petroleum), which conducts research and educates professionals in the chemical sector and related fields. Attendees also learned about the size and scope of the chemical industry on the shores of Rhone River in the second largest metropolitan area in France.

Euroforum in Germany

That same morning, as the president was learning about the French project, the general director of the cluster, accompanied by Antoni Torà from BASF Española, was presenting the ChemMed project in Germany, at the Euroforum event in Cologne. In her speech, Pallarès underscored the main strengths the cluster used to create an ideal place for investment. The merging of forces, infrastructures and related services, and the wealth of talent in the region were among the points she brought to the debate table in Germany. The director of the cluster and of the AEQT emphasised the leading role of the chemical capital of southern Europe while explaining future projects to make Tarragona’s chemical hub even more competitive.

Pallarès gave the presentation along with Antoni Torà, the site services manager at BASF Española in Tarragona. The BASF representative who accompanied the cluster’s representative to Euroforum explained that BASF Tarragona had become a multi-company site. Torà stated that the site currently accommodates seven companies and that BASF provides different services to these as well as to other nearby companies. The German firm currently occupies 112 hectares in Tarragona, of which 20 are available for new investment.

BASF’s site services manager took advantage of the opportunity to announce the début of its new inter-modal terminal, which will provide rail service between Tarragona and the rest of Europe. The new system will have a capacity of eight trains per day and will operate 24 hours a day. The new station is the result of a joint venture between BASF and five companies in the logistics sector.

This week the Mediterranean chemical cluster ChemMed Tarragona resumes its international activities with two presentations: one in France and one in Germany. As the end of its first year in operation draws to a close, representatives of the ChemMed Tarragona cluster continue to work to export Tarragona’s chemical industry brand and to seek new investment in the region.

The first delegation will be led by the president of ChemMed Tarragona and the chairman of Chemical Business Association of Tarragona (AEQT), Jesús Loma-Ossorio. The president will present the model of the Tarragona chemical cluster on Thursday in Lyon, where a seminar on industrial innovation will be held under the aegis of the Chemical Valley 2030 project. With this project, Lyon is pursuing a comprehensive model that encompasses industry, knowledge, and territory. ChemMed Tarragona was chosen to give the presentation in order to advance this objective, as the project sought a case that exemplifies these qualities – qualities that the largest chemical hub in southern Europe, located in Tarragona, is now exporting to the rest of world.

On the same Thursday, another delegation will present the cluster in Frankfurt, Germany. In this case, ChemMed will take part in Euroforum 2015, joining forces with BASF. For this reason, the presentation will be led by Teresa Pallarès, general director of ChemMed Tarragona, and Antoni Torà, site services manager at BASF Española in Tarragona.

Euroforum is a German discussion forum that, this year, will address operations, management and new business models. This year’s conference will also be open to the world, and ChemMed Tarragona will figure among the different models of business organisation presented there, as proposed by BASF Española.

This morning a delegation of businesspeople in the chemical sector in Catalonia, called together by Fedquim (the Chemical Business Federation of Catalonia), visited Tarragona to find out about the ChemMed project, the chemical industry, the port and everything they involve.

At ten o’clock these dozen businesspeople arrived at the AEQT headquarters, where they met with representatives of ChemMed Tarragona to learn about how the chemical cluster of the Mediterranean works as well as some of the traits that set the Tarragona chemical hub apart. There they heard about the industrial parks, the joint infrastructure and the Port of Tarragona from the president of ChemMed, Jesús Loma-Ossorio; the general director of the AEQT, Teresa Pallarès; and the director of the Port of Tarragona, Francesc Sánchez, before setting off on a visit to see these places for themselves.

Starting at eleven in the morning, the visitors were given a coach tour of the port facilities, especially the recently debuted expansion of the chemical quay, the northern industrial park and the southern industrial park of the chemical industry of Tarragona.

This meeting was attended by the president of ChemMed and chairman of the AEQT, Jesús Loma-Ossorio; the vice-president of the cluster and the president of the port, Josep Andreu; and the president of Fedequim, Joan Roget, among others.

This last Tuesday, the Minister of Industry, Energy and Tourism, José Manuel Soria, accompanied by the Secretary General of Industry, Begoña Cristeto, visited the facilities of ChemMed Tarragona, the Mediterranean chemical cluster.

The events slated for the visit began at midday at Repsol’s industrial complex in Tarragona, where an official ceremony was held with representatives of public and private entities from across the region.

The event was opened by Repsol’s chemical business director, Juan Carlos Ruiz Dorado, who welcomed the attendees and explained the importance of the Tarragona centre for his company. Ruiz Dorado talked about the need for Europe in general, as well Spain itself, to take a step forward in energy.

After his speech, the new chairman of FEIQUE, Anton Valero, took the stage. Valero, a Tarragona native who was named chair the Spanish Chemical Industry Federation at the beginning of the month, presented the values of a sector that provides solutions to the challenges facing humanity. He placed Tarragona at the epicentre of his discourse, without neglecting the importance of the rest of Spain at any point. The chairman of FEIQUE also focused on the subject of energy, a critical consideration for Tarragona’s cluster and the chemical industry in general. After the first two speeches were given, ChemMed shared its corporate video with the audience, followed by a speech from ChemMed’s president, Jesús Loma-Ossorio.
The leader of both ChemMed and the AEQT explained the potential of the cluster he represents, stating that ChemMed is not a brand seeking content, but rather over 40 years of content that needed a brand to project it to the world. The cluster represents an alliance of regional stakeholders to ensure the future of an industry that is critical to the region. Despite this comprehensive alliance, Loma stressed that the support of regulators is needed in important areas like energy and infrastructure. With this request, the president of ChemMed extended his hand to the Minister with an assurance that working together will lead to growth and, in turn, make Tarragona more attractive as a region and the chemical sector more attractive as an industry for future investment.

At his side, Minister Soria concluded the event by rising to the challenge of the previous speakers. The minister underscored his ministry’s commitment to attracting new investment and to providing access to the chemical industry. The Minister of Industry assured attendees that costs will continue to drop in 2014, and policies were being implemented to strengthen competitiveness. Soria said that the strength of Tarragona’s chemical industry can be seen in its innovation, its sales, its competitiveness and in its talent. He also affirmed that Tarragona provides a model to be followed, an example of combining environmental and economic sustainability.

After the speeches, the event was brought to a close with a ‘family’ picture with the ministerial representatives, the directors of FEIQUE, local stakeholders involved in the cluster and the directors of ChemMed Tarragona, led by president Jesús Loma-Ossorio, and the vice-president and president of the Port of Tarragona, Josep Andreu.

After the official ceremony, the leaders of the chemical industry accompanied the Minister on a visit to the northern and southern industrial parks, as well as to the port facilities in order to gain a clear overall picture of potential of the ChemMed cluster and Tarragona’s chemical sector in general.

This afternoon saw the formal incorporation of ChemMed Tarragona, the industrial, logistics, academic and chemical science cluster. The ceremony took place at the city’s Palau de Congressos conference centre and was attended by the president of the Government of Catalonia, Artur Mas; the general secretary for State infrastructure, Manuel Niño; and the city’s mayor, Josep Fèlix Ballesteros.

The act of incorporation was also witnessed by representatives of the 30 bodies and institutions that make up ChemMed Tarragona, which transmitted their message by means of a video. ‘Today we begin a process that I think is unprecedented, in which all of us involved in the chemical industry commit to raising the value of our assets and offering them internationally to position Tarragona on the global map,’ said the chairman of the Chemical Business Association of Tarragona (AEQT), Jesús Loma-Ossorio, who also referred to the need for chemistry to adapt, for science and industry to contribute solutions for overcoming the significant challenges facing our planet.

‘With the cluster we aim to advance and to convert our strengths into opportunities. We have analysed the potential that exists in the area of Tarragona and we have compared it with the challenges that European industry will have to respond to in the future. It is important to specialise in a chemical industry with a high added value, great diversification and a high degree of innovation, both in its processes and in its products,’ he stated. ‘In Tarragona we have all of the necessary components to take on future challenges in the sector. An industry at the service of the economic progress of our region.’

The president of the Port of Tarragona, Josep Andreu, highlighted the significance of the event for the port and publicly thanked Minister of Development Ana Pastor, who was not able to attend for personal reasons, for ‘the support she has always given the Port of Tarragona, our investments, our projects, and it is especially important to point out her full and total support of the Tercer Fil project, a strategic and fundamental project for the future of our port.’ ‘Our goal is to promote the chemical industry, as well as research and development, with the support of the transport network,’ the General Secretary of State Infrastructure, Manuel Niño, emphasised.

Niño also pointed out that the chemical sector has made a surprising comeback, achieving pre-economic crisis figures, and mentioned the Ministry of Development’s commitment to the Mediterranean Corridor to increase competitiveness which, in turn, will lead to the development of logistics and better access to Mediterranean ports. ‘The Ministry of Development, through Adif Alt Velocidad, has approved today, Friday, investments for the development of the Mediterranean Corridor.’

The president of the Government of Catalonia, Artur Mas, who, like the other speakers, gave his speech in Catalan, Spanish and English, the three official languages of ChemMed Tarragona, spoke about the commitment to the future that the industry represents for Catalonia and mentioned the industry’s ability to share the stage with other economic sectors, especially in the area of Tarragona. ‘We are dedicated to making Catalonia a business-friendly country,’ Mas emphasised, ‘to reducing bureaucracy, to simplifying processes. We are committed to making Catalonia a good place for investment.’

About ChemMed Tarragona

ChemMed Tarragona is a project promoted by the Chemical Business Association of Tarragona (AEQT) and the Port of Tarragona for the purpose of internationally projecting the attractiveness and competitiveness of the region for industry, teaching, research, logistics and chemistry.

ChemMed Tarragona enjoys the support of:

– Institutions: The Government of Spain, the Government of Catalonia, the provincial government and the city and town councils of Alcover, Constantí, El Morell, Flix, La Canonja, La Pobla de Mafumet, Perafort, Reus, Salou, Tarragona, Tortosa, Valls and Vila-seca

– Service companies (AEST)

– Education, talent, research and innovation centres: Universitat Rovira i Virgili, ICIQ, CTQ, and the secondary schools of Comte de Rius, Pere Martell and Vidal i Barraquer

– The business sector through the chambers of commerce of Tarragona, Reus, Valls and Tortosa

– Trade unions, Comissions Obreres and the UGT

El próximo 28 de marzo, a las 16h, el Palacio de Congresos de Tarragona será escenario del Acto Oficial de Constitución de ChemMed Tarragona – Clúster Químico del Mediterráneo. Un proyecto impulsado por la Asociación Empresarial Química de Tarragona (AEQT) y Port de Tarragona con el objetivo de proyectar en el ámbito internacional el atractivo y la competitividad del territorio para la industria, la investigación y la logística de la Química.

El acto contará con la presencia del presidente de la Generalitat de Catalunya, Artur Mas; la ministra de Fomento, Ana Pastor; y el alcalde de la ciudad, Josep Fèlix Ballesteros.
El presidente de la AEQT, Jesús Loma-Ossorio; y el presidente de Port de Tarragona, Josep Andreu, firmarán el acta de constitución de ChemMed Tarragona como Clúster Químico del Mediterráneo.

ChemMed Tarragona es un clúster industrial, logístico, académico y científico de la química ubicado en el territorio que aglutina los agentes, empresas, centros de formación e investigación, universidad y administraciones del territorio con la finalidad de atraer y generar nuevas inversiones que favorezcan la industrialización alrededor del clúster, así como consolidar el tejido de las infraestructuras, instalaciones productivas y portuarias, industrias auxiliares, centros de investigación y nivel de formación.

Tarragona es el primer polo químico del Estado español y del Arco Mediterráneo. Produce 20 millones de toneladas de diversos productos, esencialmente combustibles y materias plásticas. Port de Tarragona mueve anualmente 19 millones de toneladas de productos petroquímicos y asegura la importación y exportación de las primeras materias necesarias para los procesos de producción de sector químico, así como los productos que de ello se derivan.

Entidades y organismos adheridos a ChemMed Tarragona
AEST, Asociación de Empresas de Servicios de Tarragona; los sindicatos FITAG-UGT y CCOO, la Universidad Rovira i Virgili (URV), el Centro Tecnológico de la Química (CTQ), el Institut Català d’Investigació Química (ICIQ), los centros de formación profesional Comte de Rius, Pere Martell y Vidal i Barraquer; las Cámaras de Comercio de Reus, Tarragona, Tortosa y Valls, en una integración única que abarca los ámbitos de producción, logística, formación, investigación y comercio y que cuenta asimismo con el apoyo de todas las Administraciones: Gobierno de España, Generalitat de Cataluña, Diputación de Tarragona y los Ayuntamientos de: Alcover, Constantí, El Morell, Flix, La Canonja, La Pobla de Mafumet, Perafort, Reus, Salou, Tarragona, Tortosa, Valls y Vila-seca.

Antecedentes
En julio de 2010 se firmó el Pacto por el Desarrollo (Pacte pel Desenvolupament), un compromiso abierto a todos los agentes que configuran la realidad del clúster petroquímico de Tarragona y que quiere ir más allá del ámbito estricto de las industrias y conformarse como un compromiso con toda la sociedad. En noviembre de 2011 se subscribió el Memorándum del Año Internacional de la Química, punto de partida del proceso, que se desarrolló con el liderazgo conjunto de la AEQT y Port de Tarragona en febrero de 2012.

Desde el 1 de marzo Jesús Loma- Ossorio asume la presidencia de la AEQT, en sustitución de Joan Pedrerol que ostentaba el cargo desde el 21 de febrero de 2012.

De acuerdo con los Estatutos de la Asociación, Jesús Loma-Ossorio, como vicepresidente con más antigüedad de los dos que tiene la AEQT, se hace cargo de la presidencia. Esta decisión se tomó por unanimidad de la junta directiva en la reunión del 24 de febrero y será ratificada en la próxima Asamblea General de la AEQT, prevista para mayo.

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