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Annual Report www.casaasia.es · www.casaasia.cat · www.casaasia.eu Casa Asia Annual Report 2014 CASA ASIA Casa Asia is a public consortium made up of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, the Govern- ment of Catalonia, Barcelona City Council and Madrid City Council. This institution was born in Barcelona on the 9th of November 2001 and aims to contribute to bet- ter understanding among the societies of Asia, the Pa- cific and Spain, as well as to approach points of view and make the exchange of cultures, ideas and common interest projects easier. For more than 10 years it has become a reference and meeting point of one of the most dynamic regions of the world: Asia and the Pacific. 2 INDEX Casa Asia Consortium.............................................................................4 Board of Trustees...............................................................................................5 Members of the Governing Board..........................................................6 Presentation of Ramón Mª Moreno....................................................8 Highlighted Activities.......................................................................................9 List of Activities 2014...............................................................31 Media Library/InfoAsia...................................................................................43 Communication...............................................................................................44 Team..............................................................................................................46 Collaborations 2014....................................................................................47 3 CASA ASIA CONSORTIUM 4 HIGH BOARD COLLABORATING ENTITIES 5 MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BOARD Barcelona City Council His Excellency Xavier Trias i Vidal de Llobatera Mayor and Governing Board President Mr Jordi Martí i Galbis Councillor for Presidency and Territory Mr Gerard Ardanuy i Mata Councillor for Education and University Ms Àngels Esteller i Ruedas Spokesperson of the Municipal Group of Partido Popular Mr Joaquim Llimona i Balcells Director of International Relations and Cooperation Mr Josep Lluís Alay i Rodríguez Director of Heritage, Museums and Archive Madrid City Council Her Excellency Ana Botella Serrano Mayor Mr Diego Sanjuanbenito Bonal Delegate of the Government Area of Environment and Security Mr Fernando Villalonga Campos President of MACSA, MADRITEC, Madrid Visitors & Convention Bureau and Commissioner for Madrid 2020 Olympic Bid Ms Isabel Martínez-Cubells Yraola Councillor President of the Municipal Board of Chamberi District Mr Ricardo Díez-Hochleitner Cousteau Director General of External Promotion Mr Sigfrido Herráez Rodríguez 6 Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Mr José Manuel García-Margallo y Marfil Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Mr Gonzalo de Benito Secades State Secretary of Foreign Affairs Mr Gonzalo Robles Orozco Secretary General of International Cooperation for Development Mr Ernesto de Zulueta Habsburgo-Lorena Director General for North America, Asia and the Pacific Mr Fernando Eguidazu Palacios Director General of International Economic Relations Ms María Claver Ruiz Director General of Media and Public Diplomacy Government of Catalonia Hble. Artur Mas i Gavarró President of the Generalitat de Catalunya Hble. Joana Ortega i Alemany Vicepresident of the Government and Responsible for the Department of Governance and Institutional Relations Hble. Irene Rigau i Oliver Minister of Education Hble. Felip Puig i Godes Minister of Business and Employment Hble. Andreu Mas-Collell Minister of Economy and Knowledge Mr. Jordi Baiget i Cantons Secretary of Government Casa Asia Mr. Ramón M. Moreno Director General Ms. Montserrat Riba i Cunill Secretary General 7 Ramón Mª Moreno, director general of Casa Asia Casa Asia presents in this digital report a summary of activities that have taken place throughout 2014. We have carried out all this work thanks to the support of the public administrations of the Casa Asia Consortium as well as the collaboration of the institutions and companies of our Board of Trustees. This report presents detailed information about the most relevant events of the year and adds a comprehensive list of all the activities in a chronological order. The economic field, a top priority for Casa Asia, leads our report with the working lunch Minister García-Margallo held with representatives of the main Asian multinational companies established in Barcelona and the Spanish companies with a presence in Asian countries. This document also stands out the presentation in Barcelona of the economic report published by the Asian Development Bank last year, along with the organisation of several events aimed to attract Asian investments towards our country. In the field of institutional relations, I would like to mention the contribution of Casa Asia to the Spain-Japan Dual Year and the two dialogue forums held in 2014: Spain-Korea Dialogue Forum (Seoul), and the Spain-Philippines Dialogue Forum (Valencia). The objective of these Dialogue Forums is to promote new projects and increase relations with Korea and the Philippines. Asian cultures count with a big number of fans in our country and for this reason it is one of the core areas for the activities of Casa Asia. We highlight in this summary the Asian film series we hold along the year, the Casa Asia Film Week and two exhibitions of contemporary art: “A Japanese Garden”, co-produced with Matadero-Madrid and “The Tree and the Shadow”, organised by Casa Asia in collaboration with the Chinese Cultural Centre in Madrid and the Institut d’Estudis Baleàrics. Casa Asia held in 2014 the 13th edition of the Asia Festival thanks to the support of Barcelona Provincial Council and Barcelona City Council. It is a Festival devoted to the Asian performing arts. The celebration of the Chinese New Year and the project “Barcelona Coral Asia” are also useful tools for Casa Asia to engage with the Asian communities in Spain. The educational programmes of Casa Asia include an offer of language courses, arts and other disciplines from the Asian continent as well as courses addressed to entrepreneurs and business people about business protocol in a variety of cultural settings, legal and fiscal topics and clues on how to do business in Asia. The Bamboo School is the main educational programme of Casa Asia focused on school kids and teenagers. Finally, the annual meeting of Asian Studies organised by Casa Asia facilitates the coordination and collaboration of Spanish universities that offer Asian studies. On behalf of Casa Asia’s team, thank you for your support! 8 HIGHLIGHTED ACTIVITIES 9 The Minister of Foreign Affairs with Asian and Spanish multinational companies The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, José Manuel García-Margallo, chaired a working lunch with representatives of the main Asian multinational companies established in Barcelona, as well as Spanish companies with strategic intererests in Asia. Among the Asian companies that took part in the lunch we highlight Nissan, Huawei, Singapore Airlines, Hutchinson Whampoa Limited, China National Bluestar or China Shippìng. Representatives of local companies such as Port de Barcelona, Consorcio de la Zona Franca, La Caixa, Abertis or Roca Junyent also participated in the meeting. 10 José Manuel García- Margallo Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation During the press conference with the media, the Minister pointed out that the working lunch was useful “to exchange experiences with the purpose of making our country more attractive for foreign investors attracting savings in order to finance our economy. As well as this, it will attract investments that would subsequently create employment. The attraction of investment would help create employment and favour exportations to encourage job creation. Another key idea that was approached was the help given to our companies so they can access new markets”. 11 “Asian Development Outlook 2014” Report: International reference on Asian macroeconomics he Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Dr. Zhuang Juzhong, presented at Casa Asia the Asian Development Outlook. ADB publishes every year a report on the perspectives of economic growth of Asian countries, which is considered an Tinternational reference on Asian macroeconomics. Barcelona was one of the five European cities where it was presented. 12 “Asian countries must continue making all the effort posible to apply solid macroeconomic policies and necessary structural reforms” Dr. Zhuang Juzhong The main conclusion The annual economic report of this study is that of ADB forecasted in ADO Asian economies will 2014 that Asian emergent maintain a stable economies would grow growth rhythm 6.2% in 2014 and 6.4% during the next 6,2% two years, thanks in 2015. Two figures to the perspectives that confirmed the of improvement of economic strength developed countries of these emerging and the moderate countries that these growth of People’s countries are developing Republic of China. in the recent years. Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a multilateral financial institution, founded in 1966 with headquarters in Manila and integrated by a total of 67 countries and whose purpose is to reduce poverty in Asia and the Pacific through an inclusive economic growth. 13 Casa Asia at the Beijing Design Week Barcelona was the guest city of the Beijing Design Week that took part last 28th
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