Renewable energies, biotechnologies, aquaculture, transport, naval and nautical industries, digital technology, tourism and cruises... the blue economy offers an unprecedented area of development and responds to the growing needs of the population in fields ranging from food to health, including energy transition and transport and leisure. This unique potential is already well understood by a certain number of territories that are working to offer optimal development conditions to entrepreneurs in the sector.

What do Nouvelle Aquitaine, Malaga, the Sète agglomeration, Aix Marseille Métropolis and the Canary Islands have in common? Like a certain number of territories, they have chosen to make the blue economy one of the major lines of their development. How do they do this? By offering entrepreneurs and project leaders everything they need to launch or develop their activity. The Canary Islands, for example, have developed state-of-the-art infrastructures in this sector thanks to PLOCAN, the Canary Islands Ocean Platform. This consortium is a real innovation and technology hub, promoting collaboration between the various players in the sector and offering technological platforms to strengthen cooperation between training bodies and companies. However, the Spanish archipelago is far from being the only one to have detected the sector's full potential.

A qualified workforce and high potential synergies

With over 50,000 jobs, it is an understatement to say that the blue economy is a fundamental sector for Nouvelle Aquitaine. Leading in many fields such as tourism, surfing - more than 100,000 surfers each summer - but also the production and shipment of oysters, the territory has established itself as a land of choice for entrepreneurs in the sector. The region also benefits from a real frontman- La Rochelle, the leading French marina. Further south, on the Costa del Sol, Malaga is not to be outdone, with nearly 700 companies providing around 50,000 jobs. And its footprint extends to the rest of the region, since the sector employs more than 300,000 people in Andalusia, i.e. almost 10% of total employment in the territory. Created a few years ago, the Maritime-Marine cluster of Andalusia works to structure the sector and encourage its development by multiplying networking and initiating new cooperations. In 2019, the event "Opportunities of the blue economy in Andalusia", for example, strengthened the collaboration between the regional authorities, the main actors of the blue economy and the Spanish National Centre of the Western Mediterranean Assistance Mechanism. The result is a better visibility of projects, financing opportunities and other synergies within the Andalusian Autonomous Community. The driving force behind this development, the port of Malaga offers remarkable opportunities to entrepreneurs and project leaders who can rely on first class infrastructures which have already proved their worth whether in the domain of logistics, shipbuilding... or digital. A true European Silicon Valley, Malaga is home to centres of innovation, research and development of many multinational companies such as Google, DEKRA, TDK, Globant or Vodaphone. This is an environment that is conducive to innovation and which benefits innovative start-ups such as the company AlgaQua. Winner of the Blue-Growth competition, it has also been awarded a prize by the University of Malaga for its work on new species of algae that could be used in marine farming.

The ambition is no different within Sète Mediterranean agglomeration, in Occitanie, which wishes to become the reference territory for blue growth. Applied research with the future Centre du littoral et de la mer (Celimer), training and higher education, an innovative business incubator and a maritime economic zone are the 4 foundations on which the territory intends to impose itself in order to offer a unique testing ground to researchers, companies and students who have the ambition to take up the challenges of the energy transition and the preservation of the Mediterranean by testing and installing their solutions for the future there.

Set a course for growth

Underwater robotics, environmental engineering, shipbuilding and maintenance, nautical tourism, aquaculture, biotechnology, marine renewable energies, services... the blue economy is all this and more! Many territories have committed themselves to supporting entrepreneurs and helping to bring out the future national and European leaders in the maritime sector. Contact us to find out together which territory is best suited to host your project and be one of the driving forces behind your growth!

Contacts

Anton Frenzel - FDI Lead : Industry

@. a.frenzel@geolink-expansion.com / T. +33 671 850 321

Laure Pham - FDI Biotech & Services

@. l.pham@geolink-expansion.com / T. +33 646 81 86 85