The Association of the Mediterranean Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASCAME) inaugurated yesterday the 12th Logistics and Transport Mediterranean Forum and the 7th Ports Mediterranean Summit in the framework of the 16th International Logistics and Material Handling Exhibition (SIL 2014) under the slogan “Making connections”. The event is organized by ASCAME, the Consorci of the Barcelona Free Zone and the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce.

The 12th Logistics and Transport Mediterranean Forum was inaugurated by the President of ASCAME, Mr Mohamed Choucair; the Vice President of ASCAME and President of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, Mr Miquel Valls; the SIL President, Mr Enrique Lacalle and the President of the Port of Barcelona, Mr Sixte Cambra.

In the morning spoke Mr Khaled Hanafy, Minister of Supply, Internal Trade and Logistics of Egypt; Mr Aziz Rabah, Minister of Transportation and Equipment of Morocco and Ms Jihan Saleh in representation of the Arab Academy for Maritime Transport of the Arab League being discussed the vision of the Ministers of Transport of the Mediterranean Region.

In the round table about Spain, the Gulf and the Mediterranean: strategic partners, Ms María Sánchez-Palomo, Special Project Director presented the new AVE-MECCA Project of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The Managing Director and Expansion Projects of the Saudi Railways Organization, Mr Wasmi Alfarraj presented the Saudi Railways Project. The ICEX represented by Mercedes Pizarro Santo underlined the importance of joint venture and Transport and Logistics in the Mediterranean. Besides, it has been stressed that the Southern and Northern Mediterranean cities are becoming strategic hubs in the fields of transport, logistics and infrastructures. The Gulf is a unique opportunity to strategically associate and improve the infrastructures within the three regions.

The third presentation dealt with the logistics challenges for air and seaports – as well as a rail and the role in intermodal transport as a reliable and cost-effective alternative. During this session, it has been highlighted the need to invest in the Mediterranean and in the Logistics sector as a driving force for the development which could be greater if some elements would be reinforced, such as the development of infrastructure, private sector and the complementarily of networks between both sides. The morning ended with a debate about the prospects of a Mediterranean Logistic Agency.

In the framework of the forum took place the 7th Mediterranean Ports Summit with the objective of implementing a special framework for the ports sector. The summit has been inaugurated by Mr Serafettin Asut, President of the ASCAME Logistics and Transport Commission, also speaking Mr Emre Dincer, representative of the Ministry of Transport and Maritime Affairs of Turkey.

During this session has been also presented the OPTIMED project managed by the Autonomous Region of Sardinia of which ASCAME is a member of the consortium as well as the CCIA-BML of Beirut. The OPTIMED project if a European project, coordinated by the CIREM (Centre of Research in Transportation of the University of Cagliari, Italy) and ASCAME and has the objectives of optimizing and make more effective the sea transport of goods (Ro-Ro Network Structure) in the Mediterranean, as well as the search of new transport routes.

The Ports Summit provided a more accurate picture of the state of investments and the evolution of the Ports infrastructures through the Mediterranean coast, emphasizing the Suez Canal Regional Development project; the New Bosphorus canal –Turkey; the Marmaray Tunnel in Istanbul; the Gibraltar strait and the Mediterranean Corridor.

The day ended on a working meeting organized by the ASCAME Logistics and Transport Commission.

During the day, the participants were given the opportunity to attend B2B meetings with European and Mediterranean companies with the objective of exploring opportunities to reach the European and the Middle East markets and promote commercial relationships between companies working on the Logistics and Transport field.