​Salvador de la Encina: The new Strategic Framework will respond to the challenges faced by ports in the new few years

Puertos del Estado moves forward in its drafting of the Strategic Framework

The first stage has ended, and sector surveys shared amongst entrepreneurs and trade unions.


24-09-2019 (Ministry of Development). Puertos del Estado has presented the outcome of its consultations to trade unions and entrepreneurs in the logistics-port sector, completed further to the new Strategic Framework of the general interest port system. The president of Puertos del Estado, Salvador de la Encina, has thanked both economic and social agents for their effort when providing their opinions and evaluations, as this indicates a common interest in the new Strategic Framework, which will provide a response to the challenges faced by the port system in the next few years.

During the morning session, both services companies in the sector and their beneficiaries were given their own evaluations on how general interest ports are progressing and operating. In total, the opinion of 24 associations and groups has been gathered on the positioning and functions of each port, their current management, development, financing and service models, the role played by the Port Authorities themselves and Puertos del Estado, and a series of proposals derived from a general diagnosis.

Companies have all agreed that opportunities need to be fully taken advantage of, derived from the privileged positioning of the port system in transportation and logistics networks, as well as their strengths regarding infrastructure capacity and economic potential. Nevertheless, they have pointed out that there is still a long way to go, basically as regards port access by land, the regulation of port services and applicable rates, for which flexibility is being requested in order to achieve more competitive prices. In addition, the sector is aware of the joint effort required not only to improve the efficiency of port operations, but also to consolidate measures directed at reinforcing sustainability, safety and protection, process digitalization and innovation, thus ensuring that the sector contributes to the economy and society as a whole.

During the afternoon session, Puertos del Estado held a meeting with the most representative trade unions of the port system, where it became clear that Port Authority staff workers have to adapt to needs that today greatly differ from those under the former Strategic Framework, which has been valid for the last twenty years. Precisely, given the recent signature of the III Collective Bargaining Agreement, it is now time to propose adaptation measures that are able to recover and refresh the standards of a port's most valuable asset: its own human capital.