Vigo Free Trade Zone Consortium
From its logistical area, located in the port of Vigo, the consortium oversees a free trade zone with all of its related importation and exportation advantages.
The current State Representative, Teresa Pedrosa, presides over the monthly meetings of the executive committee, the body responsible for the management, administration and running of this public institution.
The Consortium developed the Balaídos Industrial Estate, where a Citroën Hispania factory was established in the Fifties, which led to the growth of an important car sector in Vigo.
During its fifty plus years of existence the consortium has played a role of ever-growing importance in the city's financial framework and also in infrastructures, urban planning and support for the entire business process - from entrepreneurs to firmly established industry.
In 1947, when the decree by which the Spanish Government granted Vigo the right to establish the third Free Trade Zone in Spain (after Barcelona and Cadiz) was published in the State Official Gazette, this news was welcomed with great enthusiasm by local authorities and business organisations, who rightly realised that the advantages this offered in comparison to other cities would drive the economic growth of Vigo.
It had to present a plan to the Cabinet for the delimitation of the Free Trade Zone, so its members debated for some time about the correct direction required for the project: industrial or commercial.
But as the huge technical and financial requirements involved in the realisation of this plan became apparent the project was restricted to an area of some 650,000 square metres in Balaídos, sufficient space to meet the requests for land presented by several companies.
Aluminium and ferroalloy companies and, above all, Citroën Hispania, were first to take full advantage of the tax incentives offered by the Free Trade Zone and effectively determined its industrial orientation.
In 1956, the decision by the French car manufacturer to establish operations in Vigo was a crucial moment, not just because its activity would become the main source of the financial resources that have allowed the Consortium to adopt its current role as an institution for economic development, but also because it resulted in the appearance of a new industrial sector in the city that, over time, drove the creation of an important network of auxiliary companies for the car industry.
During the following decade all of the installations were occupied, and by the year 2000 the area had to be extended to the current 200,000 square metres with facilities for covered and open-air storage of goods with its own customs office.
Some forty companies are currently present in this space, and enjoy the infrastructures, services and tax advantages offered to them for the storage and distribution of goods.
Having realised that Vigo's economic growth was less than its potential, the Consortium felt that the provision of publicly developed land with a full range of services was of supreme importance.
The next project was the creation of Vigo Technological and Logistic Park, home to initiatives of such interest as Texvigo, a cooperative of textile micro-enterprises which share R&D and marketing processes.
In addition, between the towns of Salvaterra and As Neves, on the border with Portugal, a logistical and industrial platform is planned, which will be the largest business park in the Euroregion, although its entry into operation is currently being delayed due to a series of lawsuits initiated by the former owners of the land in question.
Other Free Trade Zone initiatives have included the construction of the Bouzas Promenade, the public car-park facilities in the Estela and O Berbés squares, and the A Laxe shopping centre.
Inaugurated in 2002 with a magnificent exhibition about the Rande Battle, once the works were finished and the Museum entered into operation, the Consortium withdrew from its administration and negotiated its transfer to the Galician Regional Government.
