Councillor Gastón has met with the management of this company in Yiwu. Cosco manages the intermodal Plaza platform since they bought Noatum.
The Chinese group Cosco, which works in maritime transport and integral logistics based on the development of its terminals (maritime and interior), and current owner of the subsidiary that is responsible for the activity that Noatum is developing in the Plaza intermodal platform, is interested in studying new investments linked to logistics from Aragón. This was expressed this morning by the general director of Cosco Shipping in Yiwu, Yang Liang, after his interview with the councillor for Economy, Industry and Employment for Aragon Government, Marta Gastón, at the company’s headquarters in Yiwu and in the framework of the official visit she heads up on behalf of the regional government. Cosco only arrived in Noatum and Aragon a few weeks ago.
“Aragon and Yiwu have a lot in common, a very advanced economy and a similar locations (inside and very well connected)” explained Liang, who stated to Gastón that “Cosco has already carried our various new operation in Yiwu and would be very interested in doing this in Zaragoza.” As well as the intermodal Plaza Plamtform, the Cosco group will manage the Valencia, Colada (Madrid) and Bilbao terminals, but its business is spread all over the world with huge volumes. With a capacity to transport 81 millions tonnes a year, this logistics and transport giant is in almost 80 countries with a total of 232 ports globally. In the Ningbao port alone, Cosco manages the export of a million containers a year to more than 200 countries. In terms of maritime transport, they have 322 open lines.
“The directors of Cosco have been pleasantly surprised by the possibilities of Plaza, not only by the connectivity of the platform and its facilities, but also by the volume of goods that are already moving in Zaragoza,” said the councillor after the meeting with the board of the Chinese group. In her opinion, the renewed interest in the Aragon logistics corporation “opens up a range of new possibilities for our international trade”. Gastón has stated that the announcement of the next stop of the Silk Train in Zaragoza has also led them to think that “Zaragoza is interesting” as a whole , so councillor for Economy hopes that these expectations “can be realised” . She also insisted that this new channel of dialogue with the company has now been opened within the framework of the close relationship established between the Aragon and Yiwu Governments.
Regarding these options, Liang has specified that they would not necessarily be linked to Cosco Shipping, but could derive from the activity of other subsidiaries, always linked to logistics and the supply chain in particular. In any case, Liang believes that “we have a bright future in terms of logistics collaborations,” he noted.
Some of these activities could be linked to the development of the logistics chain linked directly by the merchandise that moves on the so-called Silk Train when it arrives in Zaragoza.