Business summit between Madrid and the Valencian Community The meeting, organized by the Conexus Foundation, started this Tuesday with an initial discussion table on logistics, of which the Port of Valencia was, as expected, one of the main actors.
The importance of infrastructure, which has been waiting for the green light from the Council of Ministers for almost a year for the expansion of the northern terminal, was already emphasized in the first intervention of business leaders of both autonomous regions. Shortly before the start of the event to defend the necessity of the meeting and the synergy shared between both regions.
The first colloquium was moderated by Valencian Josep Vicen BoiraGovernment commissioner responsible for the Mediterranean corridor and president of the Port of Valencia, Mar Chao; President of MSC, Francisco Lorente; President of Balearia, Adolfo Utor; and president of Sending, Juan Pablo Lazaro.
They all emphasized the need to improve intermodality between means of transport and promote sustainability. There are currently 14 EU-funded projects worth 2.3 billion “directly affecting freight traffic” between Madrid and the Valencian Community, Boira reported, and dozens more are in the works.
Regarding the expansion of the northern terminal, whose mandate came closer with the Transport Minister’s visit to Valencia on Thursday, Chao said it was a “critical infrastructure” for the port to maintain its leadership at the national level. Allowing connection with Madrid and the rest of the country. “This is a strategic project for the country,” he said.
“We are facilitators,” said the leader. Port Authority He makes a “very important commitment to promoting the railway” in order to “bring goods closer together.”
Lorente, the highest representative of the world’s leading shipping company and the company supporting this expansion of the port, assured that MSC is “environmentally conscious” and showed its willingness to cooperate in the protection of the seas. Of course, he demanded a “balance” between green taxes, since, as he reported, a ship docking in Valencia had to pay 300,000 euros in taxes, while “if you go to Tangier you pay almost nothing. Comparative crime,” he criticized.
The Baleària president, on the other hand, closed ranks with his union, emphasizing that maritime transport is “much more sustainable than the car, the plane or even the train” and argued that the implementation of sustainability measures “can be a lever for competitiveness”.