The president of Ports of the State, José Llorca, closed in Santander with an optimistic message the XII Ibero -American Course of Port Management, which has been held within the framework of Cantabria International Campus, with the assistance of professionals from 11 countries in Latin America. José Joaquín Martínez Sieso, president of the Port Authority of Santander; Maryse Robert, Chief, A.I., Commerce Section of the Inter -American Ports Commission of the Organization of American States; Juan Enrique Varona Alabern, Vice Chancellor for Institutional Relations and Coordination of Cantabria International Campus of the University of Cantabria, and María Cruz Díaz Álvarez, Vice Chancellor for Short Courses and University Extension of the UIMP.
José Llorca's presentation was entitled ‘Spanish ports in the current economic situation. Future challenges ’. His exhibition was based on the transformation that ports have experienced in the last 20 years in three fundamental aspects: normative, economic and physical.
In the normative aspect, he highlighted the change in the conception of the ports that went from being ‘works of works’ to Port Authority, “a more management model”. He also pointed out the evolution towards less decentralization and greater autonomy and the change of business model based on economic self -sufficiency "ports do not receive a euro of the state budgets." Finally, he referred to the consensus reached in 2010 on aspects of liberalization of port activity.
Among the economic aspects, in his intervention Llorca said that Spanish ports are enduring the crisis well, in recent years there have been interannual increases exceeding 6.5 percent and more than 10 percent in general goods that are, He said, "the most added value." This growth is based on two fundamental, transit and export traffic. According to the president of Ports of the State, “this is a good indicator for the Spanish economy, since since 2008 we have increased exports by 51 percent in an interannual rate. In addition, we are going to end 2012 with 200 million benefit, improving the exploitation result by 21 percent and the final results by 10 percent ”. Other data provided by José Llorca were merchandise traffic planned for the end of the year, which will be located in the 475 million tons, almost at levels of the years prior to the crisis. For 2014 they hope they rise to 500 million tons. As for passenger traffic, in 2011 it was 28 million passengers, of them 8 million cruise members. In 2012 it is estimated that there will be 7.5 million.
Among the physical aspects, Llorca stressed that the Spanish port system is prepared to overcome the crisis and for the post -crisis situation, since the ports, he added, “have sufficient infrastructure for the next 20 years, so it will not be necessary investments to face growth ”.
Finally, the president of the ports referred to some system problems such as connectivity, and especially the deficits posed by the Spanish rail system, and the need for the railroad to be interoperable with Europe, through the European width.
After the presentation of José Llorca, the turn was for the three directors of the course. Raúl Medina, director of the “IH Cantabria” who attended instead of Íñigo Losada Rodríguez, professor of the Department of Sciences and Environmental Water Techniques of the University of Cantabria; Javier de la Riva, director of the port of Santander, and Ignacio Arrondo Perals, director of services and competitiveness of state ports.
For his part, José Joaquín Martínez Sieso, president of the Port Authority of Santander, highlighted in his speech that the intention of APS has been to convey some of his experiences and show some representative examples of his procedures and techniques. He also wanted the course "to have constituted a facilitating platform for the exchange of knowledge and experiences." For the president of the PHC, "the convergence in time and place of the port cultures of the eleven countries that represent together with the diversity of their technical profiles constitute another of the assets of this course." In the words of José Joaquín Martínez Sieso, "the speed in changes and advances in the port sector demands from all of us the constant renewal of our abilities."
Maryse Robert stressed the importance of the technical training of experts, also expressed CIP commitment to facilitate and promote actions that mean a competitive and sustained port sector in America.
Juan Enrique Varona Alabern gave this course as an example of knowledge transfer, "this transfer was enhanced, he said, through the union of public institutions, the company and the university." The Vice Chancellor highlighted aspects of each one, the university puts time and knowledge, the realism company and the public institutions the endorsement.
María Cruz Díaz, closed the interventions explaining to the participants in the course what is the UIMP, to add, that Menéndez Pelayo attracts the best teachers for the best students.
Both José Llorca and Maryse Robert announced the collaboration agreement they have reached for the next two years including, among other sections, the continuity of this course.
XII Ibero -American Course on Technology, Operations and Environmental Management in Ports, which has been an International Cooperation Initiative between Ports of the State, on behalf of the Spanish Port System, and the Inter -American Ports Commission of the Organization of American States, has been developed with The collaboration of the Port Authority of Santander, the University of Cantabria and the Menéndez Pelayo International University in the framework of Cantabria International Campus.