​The president of "Puertos del Estado" highlights the port of Melilla's strategic character.

 

• Álvaro Rodríguez Dapena meets with the Portuary Comunity

 

15-03-2022 The president of "Puertos del Estado", Álvaro Rodríguez Dapena, has made an institutional visit to the Melilla Port Authority (APM) accompanied by its president, Víctor A. Gamero García, and his executive team, as part of a round of contacts that they are making with the State Port System managers of general interest ports.

The morning started with a meeting with the city President, in which the port of Melilla's future perspective was tackled. Afterwards, it was moved to the headquarters of the Government Delegation in Melilla to hold a meeting with the Delegate, Sabrina Moh.
 

Already at the headquarters of the Port Authority, the protocol act of signing the Book of Honour was carried out; after that, the president of "Puertos del Estado" met with the executive team of the Port Authority itself, with whom he discussed issues such as: the proposal to hold an upcoming meeting of the Interport Compensation Fund in Melilla, the treatment of the port of Melilla as a strategic enclave, the need to recover the value of the port's assets, as well as the cruise ship jetty project and its financing and other types of future developments.

 

Rodríguez Dapena has highlighted that until this date "The Interport Compensation Fund (FCI) has been a fundamental resource for the economic support of the Port of Melilla, as this resource covers the loss of income attributable to discounts on rates for insularity, isolation and ultraperipheral status and especially, in the latter years, since losses due to the closure of borders and the interruption of the Straits Passage Operation are also covered".

 

Subsequently, the meeting took place with the port community representatives and companies of the different links in the logistic chain, which allowed them to find common ground about the necessity of overcoming the difficulties that the Port of Melilla is going through, they all expressed their willingness to help the Port Authority by joining together to find a path of growth through new business opportunities.

 

After these meetings, the delegation visited the central offices of the Port Authority, the commercial port and the marina, facilities in which the president of "Puertos del Estado" had received detailed information on the projects to be developed in the short term and in the future, considered as a lever for the economic growth of the City, not only focused on the infrastructural level but also on digitalisation, innovation and sustainability.

 

The president of "Puertos del Estado" has taken note of the necessity of maintaining a special sensibility against the difficult circumstances that the Port Authority is going through, with which it shares the approach of changing the regulatory framework with the views of ensuring the ports economic viability relying on its key strategic position, specially if the current crisis situation and border closing continues over time and becomes permanent.