Cádiz Free Zone will exhibit for the first time in a Galician trade fair, and it will be at Navalia.

Cádiz Free Trade Zone Consortium delegate, Fran González, and event director, Javier Arnau, have signed a general protocol of action to develop joint initiatives and promote new projects to attract talent to Blue Economy ecosystem.

Cádiz Free Trade Zone will participate with its own stand in a Galician trade fair for the first time, specifically at Navalia next May. The Cádiz Free Trade Zone delegate, Fran González, and the director of Navalia, Javier Arnau, have signed a protocol of action under which both entities will work together to establish strategies that promote talent acquisition and the development of initiatives that will be incorporated into the Blue Economy ecosystem being built by Cádiz Free Trade Zone Consortium.

Both Fran González and Javier Arnau explained that Galician companies linked to Navalia, as well as firms and startups within Cádiz Free Trade Zone ecosystem, will benefit from this alliance. Both entities will offer each other spaces to showcase their respective events and trade fairs, such as Navalia in Vigo in May and the Blue Zone Forum in Cádiz this October.

The agreement will boost the presence of Cádiz-based companies and the Cádiz Free Trade Zone itself at the Galician trade fair and provide visibility to the startups of Incubazul-Blue Core. These startups will have a free space dedicated to innovation, reserved for promoting their products and services. Similarly, Cádiz Free Trade Zone will reserve space for Navalia at the major event transforming Cádiz into the epicentre of the Blue Economy, the Blue Zone Forum, which has already held its third edition and is preparing its fourth for this coming autumn.

We must emphasize the Spanish Association of Naval and Ocean Engineers (AINE) will have a dedicated space as an Innovation Area at Navalia 2026. It is exactly in this area, where Vigo Free Trade Zone is also collaborating, startups from Cádiz Free Trade Zone will have the opportunity to showcase their projects. This initiative aims to support and encourage the entrepreneurial ecosystem and a culture of innovation within the maritime and shipbuilding industry.

Both, Cádiz Consortium and Navalia have also committed to exploring joint strategies for participating in forums related to Blue Economy and the maritime and shipbuilding industry, where entrepreneurship, innovation, and talent acquisition will be promoted.

Furthermore, both entities will create a joint committee and participate in the identification and evaluation of initiatives, which will be studied to determine their viability for the potential development and implementation of new projects.

Fran González, Cádiz Free Trade Zone delegate, stated that this collaboration with Navalia strengthens the alliance began with the joint Blue Zone Forum-Navalia Meeting last September, “a very rewarding experience. We believe that working together boost any endeavour and makes us stronger. The experts who came to Cádiz with Navalia added significant value to the event, creating a highly specialized, engaging, and productive environment.”

The Free Trade Zone delegate thanked Navalia for “its renewed commitment to Cádiz and Free Trade Zone, formalizing an alliance that can bring significant benefits to the Blue Economy ecosystem and to the companies connected with the Cádiz institution and Galician entity.” Fran González added “thanks to this alliance with Navalia and the opportunity to be in this innovation zone of AINE and Vigo Free Trade Zone, we will continue to generate new opportunities for our ecosystem, especially considering that the potential for networking has multiplied since Navalia's exhibition space is double that last year.”

In addition, Javier Arnau highlighted Navalia's commitment to “collaborating with entities in other parts of Spain with significant shipbuilding industries, something that is part of our DNA.” Following the enormous success of the partnership between Blue Zone Forum and NAVALIA Meeting, “we are certain that we are here to stay,” he emphasized. At the same time, Arnau stressed this collaboration “allows us to advance our presence in the blue economy sector, which both shipyards and the auxiliary industry are committed to.” In this regard, the director of Navalia stated “this policy was reinforced a few months ago with our joining the Maritime and Maritime Cluster of Cádiz.”

Cádiz Free Trade Zone and Navalia will benefit from shared synergies and the increased visibility each offers at national and international forums specializing in their respective sectors. It's worth noting that Navalia has been Spain's leading naval trade fair since its inception in 2006. Held biennially, its primary objective is to serve as a promotional tool within the shipbuilding industry in Spain.