The port of Valencia has welcomed today a visit from the Silk Route ambassadors, where they have been welcomed by the president of the Port Authority of Valencia, Aurelio Martínez; Ramón Gómez-Ferrer, deputy director of strategic planning for PAV; and the Consell Delegate for the European Union, Joan Calabuig.
The meeting was attended by the ambassadors of Kazakhstan, Bakyt Dyussenbayev; North Korea, Kim Hyok Chol; Indonesia, Yuli Mumpuni Widarso; South Korea, Hee-Kwon Park; Thailand, Rattikul Chansuriya; Afghanistan, Massod Khalili; The Minister Counselor of the Philippines, Emmanuel Fernández Revilla; The first secretary of Uzbekistan, Timur Rahmanov; The deputy for Valencia, José María Chiquillo; And Unesco’s collaborators Christian Roger and Javier Carbonell.
During the meeting, Ramón Gómez-Ferrer explained the importance of the current port of Valencia in the trade routes with the East. In this sense, PAV´s deputy director of strategic planning has highlighted the importance of the Asian continent in the traffic of Valenciaport. In particular, Asia accounted for 27% of the total number of tons handled in PAV-managed ports in October, a figure two points above from the one of 2015. With regard to traffic of full containers, Gómez-Ferrer has also highlighted the increasing trend of the role of Asia in the total traffic of Valenciaport. Specifically, until October, 43% of the handled full containers had as origin / destination this continent (41% in 2015).
The ambassadors of the Silk Route have thanked the host of Port Authority of Valencia and have shown their interest in enhancing the commercial relations of their respective countries with the port of Valencia as well as participation in training activities promoted by the Valenciaport Foundation. The meeting ended with a visit to the facilities where they have been able to verify the port operation.
Spain is the 32nd member of the Silk Route, a program promoted by UNESCO and the World Tourism Organization to spread cultural and natural heritage and art on the silk route. In this context, Valencia has been declared as the nerve center of this initiative, recognizing its position as a reference in this route.