For this reason, Ramos focused his presentation on highlighting the wide range of attractive spaces for investment that the ZF expansion and expansion project will generate, aimed at completing the province's productive model.
The head of the Institution reviewed the projects launched, which cover business developments in all regions of the province, with a return guarantee that ensures their viability.
“The Cádiz Free Trade Zone project encompasses the entire Cádiz society and especially the business fabric of the province.” With this statement, the Special Delegate of the State of the Free Trade Zone of Cádiz, Jorge Ramos, closed a meeting with the members of the AJE last Tuesday in the Europa Building, aimed at detailing them first-hand and making them participate in the projects launched by the Institution in recent years, highlighting the expansion and expansion project to other municipalities in the province that will position it in the next 3-5 years as the first economic and industrial pole of the province.
“We are at the beginning of the great Free Zone of Cádiz, which is going to be the great Free Zone of Andalusia,” said Ramos, explaining that it will go from the 328,000 m2 - which it currently owns in Cádiz - to 1,300,000 m2 located in municipalities such as Los Barrios, Algeciras, La Línea or Jerez. This project will generate a significant supply of attractive land and available spaces for the implementation, especially of small and medium-sized companies, which will increase their competitiveness by being able to benefit from the customs and tax advantages inherent to a tax precinct and will, therefore, save production costs.
The delegate broke down the three main areas of expansion: Cádiz and its Bay, where the tax area will be close to 500,000 m2 with the incorporation of Altadis land; and the large logistics park of Aletas, in which Zona Franca wants to have a presence; Jerez, where work is being done to locate its land, which would be around 200,000-250,000 m2; and the Bay of Algeciras, a region in which the Free Trade Zone will expand by more than 330,000 m2, in the municipalities of Algeciras, in Los Pastores; in Los Barrios, in El Fresno Sur –one of the most advanced projects along with Altadis- and La Línea, where the land is being located.
Along the same lines, Ramos explained that with the attraction of investments in these new productive spaces, the Free Zone is called to be a great factor to complete the productive model of the province, and thus overcome the challenge of the structural deficit that it has and for which, even in good economic times, it has an unemployment rate 10 points above the average of the rest of the country.
In this sense, he encouraged the members of the AJE to bet on the Free Trade Zone and was convinced that businessmen and, specifically, entrepreneurs, are the true architects of economic growth, since without businessmen, companies cannot be created, which are the real drivers of the economy and job creators.
Finally, the delegate highlighted that given the numerous projects launched, Zona Franca is at the head of the investment administrations in the province and made a quick review of the different projects carried out in parallel to the expansion project: The Rota nest ships, already marketed by more than 28%; the El Puerto de Santa María logistics warehouse, operated by the logistics operator Integra 2; the silo warehouse for Harinera Villafranquina, whose works are up for bid; the Vejer business building, under construction; the Algeciras administrative building, whose works will be completed at the beginning of 2015; the improvement of the infrastructure of the El Portal industrial estates, in Jerez, or Palmones in Los Barrios, as well as the future Arcos de la Frontera Business Center, whose works are also in tender and will be awarded in the coming days.
For his part, the president of the Young Entrepreneurs, Jose Andrés Santos, thanked Zona Franca and personally his delegate for these types of initiatives and was very receptive to the extension and expansion project, which presents a very interesting offer of productive spaces for the economic growth of the province and, therefore, for job creation.