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.
At its headquarters in Tarragona today, the chemical cluster of the Mediterranean received a delegation from the Spanish Chemical Business Federation, known as FEIQUE, and from Invest in Spain, a national organisation that works to attract foreign investments to Spain. The three parties met for the purpose of creating synergies in policies for attracting investment, the primary mission of the Tarragona chemical cluster.