Business meeting China - Catalonia in Barcelona to promote investments

From http://accio.gencat.cat/cat/agenda-activitats/actes/2014/04/el-foment-de-les-inversions.jsp (in Catalan)

The business meeting China - Catalonia that will take place on April 8th, 2014, is being organized in order to to strengthen the international relationship and the trade between them. This meeting will also be an excellent opportunity to highlight the importance of the internationalization of Catalan companies and also of the recent Chinese investments in Catalonia.

[gview file="http://accio.gencat.cat/cat/binaris/El-foment-de-les-inversions-Programa_tcm176-177875.pdf" save="1"]

Barcelona citizen rescues HTC CEO from traffic jam and takes him to the MWC

From http://www.lavanguardia.com/tecnologia/mobile-world-congress/20140305/54402062926/htc-motorista-rescate-ceo.html (in Spanish)

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="317"] Obdulio Herrera, the man that saved HTC's CEO Peter Chou from a traffic jam in Barcelona during the MWC 2014 (image from HTC's Spanish website)[/caption]

During the recent Mobile World Congress 2014 held in Barcelona, Peter Chou (周永明), CEO of HTC, was travelling in a taxi when he found himself in the middle of a severe traffic jam. Sensing that he would not make it to the Mobile World Congress on time, he paid the taxi driver and asked him to find a motorcycle rider that could take him to the convention centre. So he stopped one, who gently offered himself to take him there and he even let Peter Chou to use his daughter's helmet. Upon arrival to the MWC site -on time!-, the anonymous motorcycle rider refused to receive any kind of compensation from the HTC leader. After the event, Peter Chou started the quest to find and identify the man using the company's blog and social media. Soon, the local media also started to spread the news and finally the man was identified: it was 53-year old Obdulio Herrera, who was surprised by all the fuss made around his act. As a reward, Obdulio Herrera has been invited by HTC to its most important event of the year, the presentation of the new HTC smartphone, that will take place in London on March 25th, 2014.

Editada la "Guía de Supervivencia en China" per al viatger de negocis

De http://landing.captio.net/descargate-la-guia-de-supervivencia-para-el-viajero-de-negocios-cross-cultural-en-china (en Castellano)

Captio, amb la col·laboració de Baidewei, han editat una eina que pot resultar molt útil per als cada vegada més freqüents viatgers de negocis disposats a conquerir els mercats de Xina. Es tracta de la “Guía de Supervivencia en China para el viajero de negocios“, en la qual en 26 pàgines es resumeixen els costums, el protocol i la cultura d'empresa a la Xina, per tal que qui hi viatgi per primera vegada no comenci des de zero. La guia està disponible en format pdf y per a obtenir-la tan sols cal visitar l'enllaç anterior.

Catalan electric material producer Simon reaches over 2,200 shops in China

From http://www.diaridegirona.cat/economia/2013/09/11/fabricant-material-electric-simon-supera/634503.html (in Catalan)

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="273"] Image from Simon's website[/caption]

After reaching over 2,200 shops in China under the name of Simhome, the Asian giant is going to become Simon's main market in terms of total sales. According to Simon's CEO Xavier Torra, 780 of these shops have a surface of around 100 m2, whereas the other 1,500 shops have an average surface of around 20 m2, where Simon products are sold exclusively. Simon is selling in China since 1999, when an agreement with a local partner was made, that was followed by a joint venture in 2002 and has been able to supply equipment for the facilities of the Olympic Games in Beijing. According to Xavier Torra, "in 2 or 3 years China is expected to become our first market. Today it already represents around 20% of our total sales". Simon's total sales in 2012 reached 250 million €.

 

Catalan commercial mission to the Lighting Fair in Guangzhou, China

From http://agenda.acc10.cat/agenda/default.php?id=8500 (in Catalan)

The Lighting Fair Guangzhou 2013 (广州国际照明展览会) concentrates the greatest amount of exhibitors of this kind in China. CICAT, the Catalan Lighting Cluster, is organizing a commercial mission to this event for Catalan companies between June 7th and 15th, 2013. For further information, please contact Mr. Josep M. Vidal-Ribas by phone (+34 661 577 476) or email.

Published booklet about the Chinese shop owners in Barcelona

From http://www.comercnouvinguts.pimec.org/ca/productes/72/colleccio--i-nosaltres-tambe-fem-ciutat-i-/llistat/els-comerciants-xinesos-de-barcelona (in Catalan)

PIMEC, the association grouping the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and also the self-employed workers of Catalonia, has launched a project for the city of Barcelona called "Nosaltres també fem ciutat" ("We also contribute to the city") that has the goal of improving the integration of the foreign shop owners into the city's commercial network. One of the documents that has recently been released is the booklet "Els comerciants xinesos de Barcelona" ("Barcelona's Chinese shop owners"), which emphasizes their entrepreneurial capacity and their hard-working attitude. The document can be downloaded as a pd file from the link http://www.webmini.cat/repositori/documents/productes/ca/webmini-not103-uy19kg.pdf or read it down here in its embedded form.

Industrias Químicas del Vallés to open subsidiaries in China and the United States

From http://www.flytobarcelona.org/?p=7358 (in English)

Catalan company Industrias Químicas del Vallés (IQV) announced the launch of two new subsidiaries in Valdosta, Georgia (United States) and Beijing (China) to augment its organizational structure abroad and continue increasing exports. These new subsidiaries will strengthen its presence in two of the world's main markets for phytosanitary products, doubling exports to those countries and reinforcing the company's commitment to international expansion. Based in Mollet del Vallès (Barcelona province), Industrias Químicas del Vallés already exports more than 50% of its production. Industrias Químicas del Vallés is investing in the United States and China in order to obtain the necessary authorization to market other products from its catalogue. These new openings are in addition to the subsidiaries the company already has in Spain, Italy and Portugal; local partnerships in Greece; and the 55 countries where Industrias Químicas del Vallés markets its products.

Catalan meat processing industry Càrniques Juià aims at Chinese market

From http://www.elpuntavui.cat/noticia/article/4-economia/18-economia/619600-carniques-juia-construeix-un-nou-magatzem-frigorific.html (in Catalan)

Càrniques Juià is a 27-year old company processing pork meat based in the town of Juià (Girona province), located some 50km from the French border and some 100km from important maritime shipping docks. Their total sales reached 500 million € in 2012 and they export 80% of the 11,000 pigs they annually process. Despite already selling their meat products to Eastern Asian markets such as Southern Korea and Japan, Càrniques Juià has invested 16.5 million € to enlarge their facilities and increase their exports to China, Australia and New Zealand.

Desigual opens two new shops in Malaysia

Frm http://www.icex.es/icex/cda/controller/pageICEX/0,6558,5518394_5519005_6366453_4644994,00.html (in Spanish)

Catalan clothing company Desigual has just opened two concept stores in the international airport of Kuala Lumpur, in Malaysia. As usual, Desigual shops offer colorful clothes and accessories and with innovative designs of graffiti and patchwork. Every season Desigual presents a collaboration around a specific concept and this year it is the turn of the Cirque du Soleil and the French designer Christian Lacroix. With these new shops, Desigual products are already available in more than 80 countries.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Image from the Desigual blog[/caption]

 

 

Ficosa reorganizes its activity in China after deal with Canadian company

From http://www.expansion.com/2012/12/04/catalunya/1354636661.html (in Spanish) and http://globenewswire.com/news-release/2012/12/04/509418/10014509/en/SMTC-and-FICOSA-Announce-Strategic-Arrangement.html (in English)

SMTC Corporation, a Canadian global electronics manufacturing services provider, and Ficosa International S.A., a global leader in automotive systems and parts, have signed a strategic manufacturing agreement. Founded in 1949, Ficosa has its headquarters in Barcelona and has an operating presence in 19 other countries across the globe. Under this agreement, Ficosa will transition the manufacturing of selected programs to SMTC's Suzhou plant in China, including production engineering, system integration and logistic services, among others. The Catalan company will benefit from SMTC experience in the control services of the supply chain, whereas SMTC is expected to grow as provider of  automotive industry.

 

Catalan exports increase by 7.4% in the first semester of 2012

From http://www.catalannewsagency.com/news/business/catalan-exports-increase-74-first-half-year (in English)

Foreign exports by Catalan companies reached €5.13 billion in June, a 6.6% increase compared to June 2011. This figure adds to those of the previous 5 months to reach a total of €29.14 billion, a 7.4% increase compared to the first semester of 2011. The main exporting sectors in Catalonia in June 2012 were chemical manufacturing with €1.32 billion (a 5.3% increase over June 2011), consumer goods with €940 million (a 7.7% increase over June 2011) and the automotive sector with about €880 million. The latter has seen the biggest change in June with an increase of 22.3% over June 2011. For Spain, the increase in June was of 5.1%, with a turnover of €19 billion this June. Catalonia contributed €5.13 billion to the Spanish total, representing 27% of the overall amount.

Catalan company Beter introduces beauty products in China - 加泰罗尼亚的 公司-Beter-进军中国大陆

From http://www.icex.es/icex/cda/controller/pageICEX/0,6558,5518394_5519005_6366453_4545083,00.html (in Spanish)

2012 is expected to be a key year for Beter, the Catalan company leading the Spanish market of beauty and personal care complementary products, after their announcement of entering in the Brazilian and Chinese markets. Created in 1936, Beter designs and distributes nearly 1,000 products in specialized beauty and health care shops and pharmacies. Total sales in 2010 reached 18 million euro, an amount that is expected to grow in the next years, after their increasing projection abroad.

Sabadell Chamber of Commerce and Industry organizes commercial mission to China

From http://agenda.acc10.cat/agenda/default.php?id=6849 (in Catalan)

The Sabadell Chamber of Commerce and Industry is organizing a commercial mission to China for April 15-21, 2012, specially addressed to companies of the following sectors: automotive, construction materials, engineering, electrical, plastics, chemical and consumer products. This mission has the support of the ACC1Ó office in Shanghai. The goals of this mission are: i) to promote Catalan companies in China; ii) to support the internationalization of Catalan companies; iii) to promote strategic alliances with Chinese partners; and iv) to evaluate potential investments in situ. Further information (in Catalan) can be obtained by downloading a pdf document from ACC1Ó website.

 

Summary of economic news about Catalonia

In the last few days several news about the evolution of economy in Catalonia have been released. Here's a summary of the most interesting ones and the links where to read them more in detail, plus a small summary of the piece of news written in Catalan.

* Catalan economy grew by 0.7% from June 2010 to June 2011 - http://www.catalannewsagency.com/news/business/catalan-economy-grew-07-june-2010-june-2011 (in English)

* The worst September in 15 years for unemployment in Catalonia - http://www.catalannewsagency.com/news/politics/worst-september-15-years-16282-more-people-registered-unemployed-catalonia (in English)

* Annual inflation in Catalonia measured at 3.2% at the end of September - http://www.catalannewsagency.com/news/business/tobacco-fuel-prices-and-fresh-food-put-annual-inflation-catalonia-32-end-september (in English)

* House sales in Catalonia fell by 34% during August and in comparison with the previous years - http://www.catalannewsagency.com/news/business/house-sales-catalonia-fell-34-august-compared-previous-years (in English)

* Catalan exports increased by 14% in July - http://www.acc10.cat/ACC1O/cat/empresa-ACC1O/premsa/noticies-notes-premsa/2011/110925.jsp (in Catalan)

Catalan exports have increased by 19th consecutive month in July 2011 and they have amounted 5 billion euro, 27% of total Spanish exports. According to the press release, exports to the Euro zone have increased by 10.40%, whereas those to the rest of the world have increased by 18.16%. Exports to Asia have grown by 9.73%.

Catalan mission to the Hong Kong International Lighting Fair

From http://agenda.acc10.cat/agenda/default.php?id=6566 (in Catalan)

For companies interested on the East Asian lighting markets, CICAT (Lighting Cluster of Catalonia) is organizing a mission to the Hong Kong International Lighting Fair, the most important fair of this kind in Asia that will take place between 27-30 October 2011. The goals of the mission are: i) to promote the Catalan lighting sector as a separate brand; ii) to establish commercial links between the attending companies and open new markets in Asian countries; and iii) to find potential suppliers in the area.

Agreement for the commercialization of pharmaceutical products in Taiwan

From http://www.luqaventures.com/news.php (in English)

Hong Kong based company LUQA and Catalan company Laboratorios SALVAT, S.A. have reached an agreement for the commercialization of pharmaceutical product Cetraxal Plus in Taiwan. LUQA is a specialty company devoted to the commercialization of pharmaceutical products in the East Asia emerging markets, whereas Laboratorios SALVAT, S.A. is a renowned company that has been commercializing their products, like Cetraxal Plus, for more than 20 years on international markets.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="331" caption="Cetraxal Plus (Image from LUQA website)"][/caption]

Taiwan's exports increased in July 2011

From http://www.moea.gov.tw/Mns/english/news/News.aspx?kind=6&menu_id=176&news_id=22387 (in English)

The Department of Statistics of the Republic of China (Taiwan) government has released information about the evolution of exports in July 2011, which has had an increase of 17.6% compared to July 2010 and has amounted US$28.12 billion. Imports reached US$24.77 billion, an increase of 14.0% compared with the same period last year, resulting in a Taiwan's trade surplus of US$3.3 billion.

President Artur Mas offers Catalonia to Chinese companies as base for SW Europe

From http://premsa.gencat.cat/pres_fsvp/AppJava/notapremsavw/detall.do?id=115170 (in Catalan)

The president of the Catalan government, Artur Mas, has offered Catalonia to Chinese companies to estabish in the area and to use it as a base for expanding their businesses to south western Europe, northern Africa and the Mediterranean area.  In his speech at the 6th edition of the Spain China Forum, Artur Mas has announced that government is working to make Catalonia attractive for foreign investors, specially for Chinese companies. He has also stated that Catalonia is already the Spanish autonomous community with a greater relationship with China and that with every passing day there is an increase in the relationship between companies from both countries, as well as an increase in both the trading and touristic activities. Finally, he has remembered the Chinese community in Catalonia (around 50,000 people) and how their roots are getting deeper into the Catalan society.

Cafe Networking in Barcelona: Exploring East Asian markets for textile industry

From http://agenda.acc10.cat/agenda/default.php?id=6317 (in Catalan)

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Cafè Networking (image from L'Anella website)"][/caption]

On Tuesday July 5th, 2011, ACC1Ó-Competitiveness for Catalonia is organizing a 2-hour meeting in Barcelona in order to facilitate productive networking between businessmen and entrepreneurs in the textile and fashion industries that are either interested in internationalizing their products and/or services, or that are already established and doing business in China and India. The goals of this session are: i) to detect opportunities for collaboration, i.e., for joint export;  ii) to exchange information and experiences about the strategies to enter these markets; iii) to identify synergies with competitors for project cooperation; iv) to meet potential partners, suppliers and clients; and v) to discover business opportunities in these sectors and markets.

The session will start with the presentation of a list of good business practices by a representative of the Catalan textile company Punto Blanco, by David Garcia, head of the Platform for Production and Sale promoted by ACC1Ó in Hong Kong, and an expert on East Asian markets from ACC1Ó. Right after these presentations, there will be the speed meeting session, which consists of 5-minute meetings between professionals, to finish with an open networking session during the coffee break.

ICEX promotes 14 Spanish companies in Singapore's BroadcastAsia

From http://www.icex.es/icex/cda/controller/pageICEX/0,6558,5518394_5519005_6366453_4496959,00.html (in Spanish)

From June 21st to 24th, 2011, Singapore will simultaneously host BroadcastAsia and CommunicAsia, two of the world leading trade fairs devoted to the broadcasting and communication sectors. The Multisectoral Association of Companies of Electronics and Information and Communication Technologies (AMETIC) , together with the Spanish Institute of Foreign Trade (ICEX) are jointly promoting a 200 m2 pavillion for the 14 Spanish companies attending the event. BroadcastAsia will showcase a wide variety of broadcasting products, including satellite and cable, as well as high definition and multimedia products, whereas CommunicAsia, will offer a global platform for the display of the latest digital technology related to telecommunications and information technologies. A summary of these events, including contact information, can be downloaded at a specific ICEX page.