The director of Business Promotion and Foreign Trade of the Cádiz Free Zone, Rocío García-Delgado, and the director of the Department of Business Services of the Confederation of Businessmen of Cádiz (CEC) Manuel Gómez, were in charge of opening the virtual conference on the blue economy organized by the Confederation of Businessmen of Andalusia (CEA), which was held this morning and whose primary objective was to present the current situation of the Blue Economy in the province of Cádiz, in addition to describing the weaknesses, threats, strengths and opportunities of the sectors linked to the blue economy.
The day included two presentations by CEEi Bahía de Cádiz technicians Miriam Almagro Parrado and Andrés Blanco Rodríguez, who explained the potential of a sector that generates 300,000 jobs and 17 billion euros in Andalusia, which represents 10.5% of the region's GDP, only two points less than tourism.
We must not forget that activities linked to the blue economy generate 4.5 million jobs and a turnover of 650,000 million euros in the EU, according to data provided by the European Commission.
And officials from companies that develop their work around the blue economy have spoken about their experience in this rapidly growing sector. Marta Garat, NovoJet Naútica manager; Javier Mejías, CEO of Buqueland; and Alfonso Macías, technical coordinator of ASEMA - Association of Marine Aquaculture Companies of Andalusia, have stressed the importance of taking advantage of the natural resources offered by the province of Cádiz, especially due to the richness of its coasts and everything related to them.
At the opening of the day, the representative of the Free Trade Zone stated that in the current context, with the scenario outlined by the Covid health crisis, it is necessary to reorient the production model and promote it towards green and blue economies and added that it is important that in Cádiz "we take advantage of the natural resources we have." He has also highlighted “the innovative talent that exists in Cádiz and the creative and entrepreneurial spirit of its people”, something that aims to bring to light the high-tech incubator linked to the blue economy of the Free Zone that has received a subsidy from Feder Funds, Incubazul.
For his part, Manuel Gómez has stressed that "the sea provides our province with many opportunities, from a logistical, transportation and industrial point of view, but also from the correct management of natural resources and our coasts, as a tourist destination. Our 270 kilometers of coastline have an enormous variety, not only of natural spaces, but also of first-class economic resources, such as the ports of Algeciras and Cádiz, a fundamental part of our logistical potential.
The Conference has highlighted a sector of great importance for the development and economic activity of the province. In fact, at the end of May, the CEA presented a report that highlighted the great activity around the blue economy throughout Andalusia and analyzed four sectors: logistics, ports and infrastructure; shipbuilding and maritime equipment; marine renewable energies, and fishing, agriculture and transformation, citing offshore wind energy as the predominant emerging sector, which in 2018 generated 210,000 jobs in the European Union,