The aim is to foster business relationships with this Asian country, position Barcelona as the gateway to Europe and raise awareness among Chinese businesspeople of the business opportunities the Barcelona area offers. 

Deputy mayor for Finance and Economic Promotion for the Barcelona City Council and president of 22@Barcelona, Jordi William Carnes, will set off on an institutional and business trip to China on 3 July. William will visit the Barcelona Pavilion at the Shanghai Universal Exposition, which shows two models of Best Urban Practices used in the city of Barcelona, chosen above all for their commitment to regenerating the urban fabric and maintaining historical heritage: 22@Barcelona and Ciutat Vella.


The agenda, organized by the Barcelona City Council Department of Economic Promotion, aims to foster the sharing of experiences, as well as visits to areas that could help our institutions and companies in their growth and internationalization processes.

Barcelona will explain what makes it a highly attractive city for Chinese businesspeople and investors, making it an ideal platform from which to enter the Spanish, European (and Euro-Mediterranean) and Latin American markets. To this end, symposiums will be held where the city’s strategic sectors will be able to carry out actions to attract investment and work to internationalize their businesses.

Barcelona’s commercial and economic links to Asia have been growing steadily in line with increasing prosperity in the Asia/Pacific region. This relationship could benefit from the increase in direct flights to Asia, both for passengers and goods, and the good positioning of the Port of Barcelona, which is one of the most active ports in Europe and has great potential for growth, allowing for direct shipping of goods between Asia and the Mediterranean.



Inauguration of new Consulate of the Sea in Hong Kong
Wednesday 7 July, deputy mayor for Finance and Economic Promotion for the Barcelona City Council, Jordi William Carnes, will inaugurate the new Consulate of the Sea office in Hong Kong, which aims to guarantee the direct presence of the Catalan capital in one of the largest potential markets in the world. The Hong Kong office is part of a network of 16 offices that, in the spirit of the former Consulates of the Sea, represent Barcelona in a number of key cities, like Shanghai, Singapore, Sao Paolo, Berlin Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Copenhagen, Cairo, London, Los Angeles, New Delhi, New York and Paris.

These offices are located in facilities run by ACC1Ó CIDEM/COPCA, which belongs to the Catalan Government’s Department of Innovation, Universities and Business and complement their work to drive the Catalan economy’s internationalization. They will work together and share resources and intangible assets, like the Barcelona city brand, which is recognized worldwide.


BARCELONA ECONOMIC TRIANGLE also to be presented
As part of the Shanghai Universal Exposition, the BET, Barcelona Economic Triangle, will be presented, along with the investment opportunities this project offers in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area.

The Barcelona Economic Triangle is a platform that is developing more than 10 million m2 to attract companies from the new economy to the Barcelona Metropolitan Area. The triangle is made up of three well-defined areas: 22@Barcelona (Besòs Area), Parc de l'Alba (Vallès Area) and BZInnovació/DeltaBCN (Llobregat Area) that bring together the best business opportunities based on the high value added knowledge economy in international markets.

These three areas offer business fabric, universities, research and technology transfer centers of excellence, unique latest-generation scientific facilities and business incubation and start-up services.


BCN, Design Day: “Model Barcelona”
The Barcelona City Council and BCD, Barcelona Design Center, have organized this round table to debate the past, present and future of design in cities. Renowned designers from a number of countries will participate in the debate, including Viviana Narotzky, PhD in History of Design from the Royal College of Art in London and author of books like La Barcelona del Diseño; Vicente Guallart, architect and director of the Institute of Advanced Architecture of Catalonia; Juan Eusebio Pujol, CEO of Santa & Cole; Horge Pérez, designer and professor at IED, European Institute of Design; and Mateu Hernández, head of Economic Promotion for the Barcelona City Council. The debate will be moderated by Dai Chun, editor-in-chief and assistant director of the magazine "Time+Architecture", and head of the Chinese edition of the magazine AIA Architectual Re.

Model Barcelona has become an international benchmark in urban development, based on the idea that a city should give priority to residents, co-existence and quality of life in public spaces. Based on the Barcelona’s experience of the change during the transition and the 1992 Olympic Games – based particularly on design and architecture- this project aims to transmit Barcelona’s viewpoint in a debate on the new paradigm of the city of the 21st century.

 “Invest. DO IT in Barcelona” Seminar

The Barcelona City Council has organized a symposium to foster Asian investment in Barcelona, which will include presentations on the business opportunities offered by institutions like BCD, Barcelona Design Center, the PCB, Barcelona Science Park, and the b_TEC Foundation.


•    Presentation of Corporate Design Center program and the BDIC (Barcelona Design Innovation Cluster)

Presentation of BCD, Barcelona Design Center and, specifically, the Corporate Design Centers program, which facilitates the establishment of multinational’s new corporate design centers, guides those already established and schedules agendas for those that come to visit Barcelona.

Presentation of the BDIC Barcelona Design Innovation Cluster, an initiative that brings together innovative companies, support organizations and institutions that use design as a strategic element. It is promoted jointly by the BCD and 22@Barcelona in order to increase competitiveness of sectors where design can facilitate innovation and focuses, mainly, on 4 strategic areas: Design and the City, Design and Health, Transport Experiences, and Integral Concepts.

Presentation of Roca, member of the BDIC, and National Design Award and Chamber Design Management Award winner, among others. Their Design Center and Innovation Lab make Roca a benchmark in Corporate Design Centers in Barcelona.
        

•    b_TEC FOUNDATION, DIAGONAL-BESÒS CAMPUS

The b_TEC Foundation, made up of the city councils of Barcelona and Sant Adrià, the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and the University of Barcelona, was created to lead the design, organization and management of the Diagonal-Besòs Campus and to drive contents related to the Administration, university and the business world.

The b_TEC Foundation works to make the Diagonal-Besós Campus an ecosystem where teaching, research and companies from the energy, water and mobility sectors come together. Currently, the energy sector is the most developed on the campus, leading to the creation of the Energy Park, which includes:

A cluster of companies devoted to energy efficiency, which are potential collaborators for Chinese companies and, therefore, provide them with valuable business opportunities. The IREC (Catalonia Institute for Energy Research), which focuses mainly on applied research in energy efficiency and renewable energy and is open to working with Chinese companies; and Fusion for Energy, the European office of the ITER project, which is located in the Energy Park and works in collaboration with other offices in countries that participate in the project, including China.


•    PCB, BARCELONA SCIENCE PARK

The Barcelona Science Park is a place where university, business and society come together in order to drive innovation, mainly in the life sciences field. Established by the University of Barcelona in 1997, this was the first science park in Spain and nowadays is an international benchmark in fostering innovation and home to 2,200 professionals.

The Barcelona Science Park aims to drive research of excellence by offering a wide range of technology, dynamizing the relationship between universities and businesses, driving the start-up of new companies and institutes, and promoting dialogue between science and society and encouraging scientific vocation.

The Barcelona Science Park offers Chinese companies top-quality spaces to carry out their business in Southern Europe. The Park is a strategic gateway to Europe and Latin America, providing strong intercontinental networks, open innovation and advantageous access to financing. This is the best option for international business in the life sciences sector.