​At the XXIV Latin American Port Management Course, arranged by Puertos del Estado

The former Minister of Industry, Juan Manuel Eguigaray, presents a view of a "Welcoming Spain" at the XXIV Latin American Port Management Course

• The former minister has strengthened ties between Spain and Latin America with his speech on the round-the-world expedition arranged by the Association To Support Great Spanish Navigators and Explorers
  
   
  

10-15-2019 (Ministry of Development). Spain's former Minister of Public Administrations and of Industry & Energy, Juan Manuel Eguigaray, has today made a speech before the students enrolled on the XXIV Latin American Port Management Course, to be held over four weeks at Puertos del Estado's offices in Madrid, plus a further week for visiting various ports.

Eguigaray, who held ministerial office between 1991 and 1996, focused his speech on the expedition that will replicate the sailboat journey completed by Magallanes and Elcano, a project arranged by the Association To Support Great Spanish Navigators and Explorers as part of the V Centenary's institutional agenda.

In his speech, Eguigaray not only recalled the era when Spain was the world's superpower, competing with Portugal to control the spice market, but has also sent a message in favor of universality and a union of culture. "Underlying this project is the thought of sharing ideas and customs, ensuring mutual respect to the benefit of a universal culture". "Without further ado we want to act as peaceful ambassadors of good relations between Spain and its fellow Latin American countries".

At the end of his speech, the president of Puertos del Estado, Salvador de la Encina, warmly thanked the former minister for his participation, as this is the first time such a high-ranking speaker has made his knowledge available to the participants of Puertos del Estado's Latin American Course.

This Latin American Port Management Course is a teaching initiative used to strengthen international cooperation, arranged by Puertos del Estado along with the Inter-American Committee on Ports (CIP) of the Organization of American States (OAS), in which 25 university graduates are participating in this edition, from 12 different Latin American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru and Uruguay.

The course speakers are prestigious professional experts in the Spanish and Latin American port and logistics sector, who are presenting their experience and practical view of the sector, with speeches ranging from basic models for port development in Spain and Latin America, to infrastructure planning; financing of the port system; logistics and intermodality; port exploitation or RDI and environmental policies, amongst other topics.

Along with their speeches, workshops and conferences, totaling 150 hours in lectures, the course will be completed with an end-of-course project, defended before a tribunal, and a visit of the ports of Bahía de Algeciras, Huelva and Seville.