With the aim of analyzing the status of the project and the prospects of the different agents involved, Valencia Plaza, BROSETA, Everis and the ForoPPP organized a Business and Institutional Meeting on the Mediterranean Corridor, which addressed various aspects with the purpose of carrying out an objective analysis of the current situation and the plan of action and implementation of the project as well as a comparison with other similar projects in countries of the EU.

The conference was led by Miguel Miró, Director General of Valencia Plaza, and Manuel Broseta, President of BROSETA, who highlighted how, after the crisis, companies have learned the lesson and have incorporated in their activity both internationalisation and the need to gain size, something for which it is indispensable to provide infrastructure such as the Mediterranean Corridor, a platform for transport and logistics unique in the European continent, whose development will boost the competitiveness of the national economy, with direct impact on up to four autonomous regions: Andalusia, Murcia, Valencia and Catalonia.

Ximo Puig, Most Honorable President of the Generalitat Valenciana, had the honour of opening the meeting. During his speech, Puig criticized the delay of the Mediterranean Corridor, while the four communities involved in Spain provide 50% of the population, 45% of GDP, 47% of the production, 46% of employment, 5% of exports and 63% of the goods traffic through the ports of Spain, and altogether occupy seventh place of importance by GDP in the European Union amounting to more combined than 22 other Member countries. Therefore, the President delved into the need for the Regional Government to establish a new relationship with the Central Government and Brussels on these investments.

After the opening, Henning Christophersen, Chairman of the Committee of Experts for the Identification of Investment Projects of the Juncker Plan, argued for public-private partnerships as a source of investment and a solution for many countries in terms of infrastructure, and stressed that the Juncker Plan will mobilize 315 billion Euros for the most important projects.

For his part, the Director General for Mobility and Transport from the European Union, Bernardo Urrutia, advocated collaboration between institutions and the business sector for the optimum development of the projects, together with the use of financial instruments such as those proposed by the Juncker Plan, with the aim of completing projects based on criteria of profitability.

During the first of the round tables, “Advantages of the Mediterranean Corridor for the Improvement and Promotion of the Competitiveness of the Business Sector at the National Level”, the Regional Secretary of Housing, Public works and Territorial Structuring, Josep Boira, asked Spain to name a Commissioner for the Mediterranean Corridor, who would be responsible in Brussels for promoting this infrastructure; Inmaculada Rodríguez Piñero MEP, Head of International Trade, included in the debate the transport of passengers, asking for the union between Barcelona and Valencia through the AVE, and Professor of the University of Valencia, Javier Quesada, urged the authorities to develop the Mediterranean Corridor due to the industrial congestion that is beginning to occur in the community.

Then, Rosa Vidal, Partner and Head of the Public Law Department of Broseta; the State Lawyer and General Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and Public Administration, David Mellado, and José Montañés, Director of Financial Projects and Specialized Business in Banco Sabadell, debated “Contractual models for the implementation and development of the Mediterranean Corridor. Public-private partnership model: legal structure and financing infrastructure”. Montañés explained his fears that the Mediterranean Corridor won’t run from a global vision, but in a fragmented way and with multiple changes; David Mellado focused on the responsibility of the Administration, and Rosa Vidal focused on talk not only of economic sustainability, but also the social impact of a public work.

In the third round table of the day, “The vision of agents: the public transport operators and logistics”, the Director Manager of Renfe Goods, Antonio Aguilar, presented an optimistic view on the Mediterranean Corridor, announcing the arrival a revolution in the railway sector and reasons to be optimistic; Yolanda Atiénzar, CEO of Logitren, claimed the need for an infrastructure capable of assuming the growth of the port of Valencia and International traffic; Manuel Guerra, Assistant Director-General of Infrastructure Planning of the Port of Valencia, warned that without the Mediterranean Corridor, the port of Valencia will lose competitiveness with regard to other European venues; and José Pedro Mur, Director of Transport and Logistics of Everis, focused on the delays of rail transport over the past decade, emphasizing the crisis passed in recent years.

In the last round table of the day, “the vision of agents: the business sector”, participated the President of Fecoval, José Luis Santa Isabel; the Chairman of Rover Alcisa, Alfredo Rodríguez; the CEO of Torrescamara, Pedro Catalán; and the Manager of the Chamber of Contractors, Manuel Miñes. During this roundtable other issues regarding the Mediterranean Corridor were raised such as transport by road as an even more reliable method, flexible and with higher frequencies; the public works investment effect; lack of support from the central Government to the Corridor, or the excessive development of the high speed passenger lines in locations with few users, when goods traffic is essential.

Finally, the Councillor for housing, Public works, and the Structuring of Territory, María José Salvador, pointed out that the Mediterranean Corridor is essential for the development and growth of the region, it can not take any longer and that must have the utmost commitment of all authorities involved in the construction of the same.

Picture galleries: Mornig session / Afternoon session