Catalonia is the autonomous community that leads Spanish exports to the Asian continent. It represents 26% of the total and over 1,000 million euros in 2024, figures driven above all by the chemical, automotive and food sectors. Furthermore, it concentrates 34% of exporting companies. But the new geopolitical scenario and the climate challenges represent a series of opportunities in the career of the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, to place Catalan talent in the new center of gravity of international trade. To this end, the Government presented on Monday the five axes of the Asia Strategy 2025-2030, the roadmap to build relations with technological powers such as Japan, India and China which includes the expansion of international connections from Barcelona-El Prat airport.
The strategy aims to promote global alliances between urban centers and industrial regions and increase spaces for the exchange and transfer of knowledge. Another course of action will be to cultivate trade relations by positioning Catalan products in the Asian market and increase investments by companies from the continent in Catalonia.
The Executive is convinced that it is essential to improve air connectivity and port infrastructure. The strategy, awaiting approval this Tuesday in the Executive Council, prioritizes the creation of new direct air routes with key markets such as the Chinese cities of Guangzhou, Hangzhou and Chengdu through the Committee for the Development of Barcelona Air Routes (CDRA) and El Prat Airport. The ports of the Catalan capital and Tarragona are strategic infrastructures that Illa also wants to promote through the creation of future green corridors with Asia.
Illa argued that the plan, as well as all the government’s foreign action, is carried out in coordination with the foreign policy of the central government and the European Union. “We are part of the same shared public space. Not only is it a plan that does not put our identity at risk, but it will enrich us, as it has always been in the history of Catalonia,” he underlined.
In the midst of the debate on the tourism model that should prevail in Catalonia, the Executive sees Asia as an optimal market for attracting visitors with greater purchasing power. The strategy qualifies Asian tourism as a model that brings significant benefits to the territory thanks to its high seasonality and high level of spending.
Another block will prioritize cooperation in research and innovation through the presence of Catalan talents in scientific and technological forums. Joint policies will be strengthened in areas such as climate change, urban policies, sustainable mobility, decarbonisation of the economy and civil protection emergency preparedness.
The cultural field occupies the last of the plan’s axes, which plans to promote the learning of Catalan in Asia through the Institut Ramon Llull (IRL), strengthen cultural exchanges and presence at festivals, as well as strengthening the role of the Asian diaspora in the public life of Catalonia.
Priority countries
The OECD estimates that by 2024 Asia could concentrate 42% of global GDP, 60% of Fortune 500 companies and more than half of the global workforce. East Asia, with more than 1.6 billion inhabitants, is the nerve center and geopolitical center of the continent, which is why the Generalitat will give priority to Japan, South Korea and China as the three engines of Catalan exports.
The Generalitat aims to reach 6,000 million euros in foreign investments and to achieve this goal it must focus on emerging markets such as India, Pakistan or Vietnam. Investments from the Indian subcontinent in the last five years have reached 167 million, with notable peaks in 2023 and 2024, with a leading role played by the IT programming and consultancy sector.
