Sunday, April 7, 2013

Conference in Barcelona about the Mediterranean as an opportunity for Asian traffic

From http://bswomenb.blogspot.com.es/2013/04/ciclo-de-conferencias-esade-china.html (in Spanish) and http://www.esade.edu/newsletter/eng/rrpp/130419_red_europea_asia (in English)

On Friday 19th April 2013, from 8.30 am - 10.30 am, the ESADE China Europe Club (Chinese version at ESADE中欧俱乐部) is organizing a conference entitled "The new European transport network. Is the Mediterranean an opportunity for Asian traffic?", in which the speakers will present and discuss this possibility.

The debate at the heart of EU institutions to define and approve the trans-European transport networks of the future (TEN-T) is drawing to a close. The Mediterranean Corridor occupies an essential role in the new TEN-T networks, and its development may be financed by ample European funds. The Mediterranean Corridor is a vital element in promoting southern Europe – the Mediterranean and its ports and logistics zones – as Euro-Mediterranean concentration and distribution platforms.

Mediterranean countries need to make a decision: Do we take the opportunity that Europe is offering us or not? If we decide it is worth taking this opportunity we could become a logistical power equivalent to that of northern Europe’s Rotterdam or Flanders. Additionally, greater supply chain efficiency would allow manufacturers and distributors to be more efficient, more competitive and as a result expand their import and export activities.

In this context, we ponder: Is the Mediterranean an opportunity for Asian traffic? During the conference, we will discuss this decision from the main actors’ point of view: the ports, shipping companies and terminals.

Program

8.30 am Networking coffee break

9.00 am Introduction and welcome address

Ivana Casaburi, ESADE Associate Professor, Department of Marketing Management and Director of the ESADE China Europe Club

Speakers

Santiago Garcia-Milà, President of the Association of European Ports and Deputy Director General of the Barcelona Port Authority

Vicente De Angelis, Deputy Director General of Cosco Iberia S.A.

Jorge Moreno, Commercial Director of TerCat - Hutchison Port Holdings (TBC)

Moderator: Carles Cabrera, Professor in the Department of Operations and Innovation at ESADE and Director General of Institut Cerdà

The language used in the event will be Spanish.

Venue
ESADEFORUM
Av. Pedralbes, 60-62
Barcelona

For further information please contact Fina Planas at (+34) 934 952 064  or +(34) 932 806 162, ext. 2410, E-mail: fina.planas@esade.edu

For registration, please fill the form in ESADE website.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Workshop on the keys to success when investing in China

From http://www.acc10.cat/ACC1O/cat/empresa-ACC1O/activitats/cpn/trobada-abril-2013/seminaris/Xina.jsp (in Catalan)

Since 2007, foreign investments in China have grown by 43% thanks to the dynamism of its economy, that has been consistently growing at a 9% rate during the last 10 years. This growth is attracting more and more companies to China and the goal of this workshop is to help the new ones to have a successful establishment in the Asian giant by learning from the experience of those Catalan companies already working in the Chinese market. This session will also include the presentation of the report "Catalan business investments in China", that was awarded in the VII edition of the ACCID (Catalan Association of Accounting and Direction) Research Prizes.


Program

09:00h: Registration of the attendants

09:15h: Welcome address
Antoni Maria Grau, General Director of Industry, Catalan government

09:20h: Impact of the internationalization in the workforce, the dimension and the success of companies
Oriol Amat, Professor of Financial Economics and Accounting at Universitat Pompeu Fabra and Vicepresident of ACCID

09:40h: Analysis of the Catalan business investments in China
Ana Beatriz Hernández-Lara, Department of Business Management, Universitat Rovira i Virgili

10:15h Coffee break

10:35h: Presentation of success stories of Catalan companies in China
Pere Relats, CEO of Relats S.A.
Ramon Ceravalls, Owner of CELO Group
Manel Roure, Director of Foreign Subsidiaries in DOGA S.A.

11:25h: Investing in China and Hong Kong: practical considerations
Gao Wei, Director of the Business Promotion Center of ACC1Ó in Beijing
Madrona Marcet, Director of the Business Promotion Center of ACC1ÓHong Kong

12:00h: Financial tools for the internationalization of companies
Sandra Font, gestora de projectes de finançament d’ACC1Ó

12:15h: Open platform for questions

12:30h: End of the workshop


The event will take place on Friday, April 19th, 2013 at the ACC1Ó headquarters, Passeig de Gràcia 129, Barcelona


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Hong Kong's celebration of Sant Jordi festival of 2013

From http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151517147324061 (in Catalan)

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="212"]Sant Jordi 2013 in Hong Kong (Image from the Facebook page of the Federació Internacional d'Entitats Catalanes, FIEC) Sant Jordi 2013 in Hong Kong (Image from the Facebook page of the Federació Internacional d'Entitats Catalanes, FIEC)[/caption]

The Catalan Association of China, founded in year 2005 and with headquarters in Hong Kong, has the double mission to connect the 130 Catalan expats residing in that part of the world and also to promote Catalonia. On April 21st, 2013, at 3 pm, the members of the Catalan Association of China will gather at the Cafe Duvet (Shop 06, Discovery Bay) to celebrate La Diada de Sant Jordi (Saint George’s day, a Catalan holiday that is held every year on April 23rd) and to show it to the local people and the rest of the world.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Dinner with Catalan chef Ferran Adrià sold at Hong Kong auction

From http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/04/03/dinner-with-famed-spanish_n_3006642.html (in English)

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="212"]Ferran Adrià in the cover of El País Semanal (1999) (Image from elBulli website) Ferran Adrià in the cover of El País Semanal (1999) (Image from elBulli website)[/caption]

The chance to dine with world-famous Catalan chef Ferran Adrià was sold at an auction in Hong Kong for 180,000 HKD (Hong Kong dollars), equivalent to 23,200 US dollars. Ferran Adrià is considered the world's most creative chef and his former restaurant elBulli, managed by him during 27 years and closed since July 2011, was voted 5 times as the best in the world by Restaurant Magazine. The winner of the auction will be able to have the chance to dine with Ferran Adrià and his brother Albert Adrià at a restaurant in Barcelona and visit the premises of the elBulli restaurant, located by the sea in Cala Montjoi, Roses, Catalonia. Another ticket to the dinner will be auctioned off in New York on April 26th, 2013. The benefits of the auction will go to the elBulli Foundation, a project set up by Ferran Adrià and long-time business partner Juli Soler, which will turn the restaurant into an experimental centre looking at the process of culinary innovation and creativity.

Restaurant (magazine)Wikipedia: Restaurant is a British magazine aimed at chefs, restaurant proprietors and other catering professionals that concentrates on the fine dining end of the industry.

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Beijing celebrates Catalonia's Sant Jordi festival

From http://www.booksandroses.com/2013/03/beijing-april-27-at-2kolegas.html (in English and Catalan)

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="199"]Sant Jordi 2013 in Beijing (image from Liz Castro's Flickr site) Sant Jordi 2013 in Beijing (image from Liz Castro's Flickr site)[/caption]

On April 27th, 2013, Beijing Catalan expats will celebrate La Diada de Sant Jordi (Saint George's day, a Catalan holiday that is held every year on April 23rd) at the 2Kolegas (两个好朋友) with several activities including music, poetry readings, documentary showing and food tasting.

April 27 at the 2Kolegas

18:00 Second annual Jocs Florals (Poetry Reading in Catalan language) in Beijing. 50 roses will be given to the first 50 women
18:30 Exchange of books / Presentation of the Club Library
19:00 Showing of the documentary “Entre dos gegants” (Between two giants)
20:00 Tasting of calçots (tender onions, with homemade Romesco sauce)
20:00 - 21:00 Community barbecue with 2 roasted lambs

Music by:

22h. Redundant Seconds
23h. Las Perracas
24h. Mr. Freeman

Price: 20 RMB club members (50 RMB non-members)

 

Monday, March 25, 2013

III International Congress on Asian Tourism to be held in Barcelona

From http://www.casaasia.es/congresoturismo/index.php?lang=en (in English)

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="655"]III International Congress on Asian Tourism (from Casa Asia website) III International Congress on Asian Tourism (from Casa Asia website)[/caption]

After the editions of 2008 and 2011, the International Congress on Asian Tourism holds its third edition under the title "Asia, the Great Outbound Market and New Technologies as Promotion and Loyalty Building Tools". The congress, which is structured in five round tables, two plenary sessions and an opening lecture, will analyze the current situation and future perspectives of Asian markets as outbound tourism and how new information and communication technologies must be used in order to attract Asian tourists. The purpose is to identify which measures the Spanish tourist sector must adopt as a receiving market and key issues that will be discussed during the event are the positioning of destinations in Asian markets, the connectivity with Asia, the service to Asian customers or the purchasing power of Asian tourists, among others. The III International Congress on Asian Tourism will include the participation of thirty experts, mostly from the region of Asia and the Pacific, as well as local authorities, organizing institutions and associations linked to the sector. The program is addressed to the hotel and catering industry, tour operators, representatives of airlines, people in charge of tourism and cultural promotion of the public and private sectors and to all those economic actors interested in Asia as a tourist outbound market.

The event will take place at the Pavilion 5 of the Fira de Barcelona, in the Rius i Taulet Avenue on April 19-20, 2013. The program and the bios of the main speakers are already available on the congress website. Some of the main names of the event are Taleb Rifai, General Secretary of the World Tourism OrganizationLiu Wuxiong, Vice-President of China International Travel Service; and George Cao, Managing Director of Dragon Trail Interactive; Ramón M. Moreno, General Director of Casa Àsia; Pere Duran, General Director of Turisme de Barcelona; and Xavier Espasa, Director, Agència Catalana de Turisme, among others. Local representatives are expected to include the Mayor of BarcelonaXavier Trias and the Spanish Minister of Industry, Energy and Tourism, José Manuel Soria.

For further information, please contact:

Coordination – Casa Asia
Department of Economy and Business
Amadeu Jensana/ Guillermo Martínez/ Lucía Alvarez
congresoturismo@casaasia.es
Tel: +34 93 368 0341 / +34 93 368 0736

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fdEACelJBAQ

Promotional video from III International Congress on Asian Tourism

Friday, March 22, 2013

Tous expects to return to China and outnumber 450 stores by 2013

From http://www.flytobarcelona.org/?p=7460 (in English)

Rosa Tous announced that the return of Catalan jewellery Tous to China could take place this year. Three years ago, the company closed all stores in China had after breaking the contract with their local partner. Since then, the Manresa-based company has been looking for another group to return to the Asian giant. “We must be very careful in choosing our partner, but when we find it, we will come into the market in China with force,” she said. Tous jewellery chain is accelerating its international expansion and plans to open 40 stores in 2013, compared to the 30 jewellery stores it opened last year. The director of corporate relations for the company said yesterday that the openings will focus on markets where the chain already has a presence, with the aim of consolidating the brand.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480"]Tous jewellery shop in L'Illa shopping mall in Barcelona (image from Tous Wikipedia entry) Tous jewellery shop in L'Illa shopping mall in Barcelona (image from Tous Wikipedia entry)[/caption]