Asia Pacific
The strategic importance of Barcelona's relations with Asian cities
Barcelona has made a clear commitment to strengthen its relations with the cities of Asia Pacific, the most economically dynamic region in the world with increasing geopolitical influence and rich cultural, political and social diversity. One of the keys to achieving a better understanding of the region and its complexities is, without a doubt, our active collaboration with Casa Asia, which has its headquarters in our city. Barcelona City Council is a founding member of this public diplomacy consortium tasked with promoting knowledge and relations with the region.
To consolidate relations with Asia in critical areas such as innovation, sustainable tourism, economic promotion, sustainable development and logistics, in November 2022, the City Council presented its Asia Strategy, the first city strategy for Barcelona's relations with the region. Prepared in collaboration with Casa Asia, the document reviews the state of relations with the continent, establishes strategic lines for Barcelona's projection towards Asia, and identifies priority cities for cooperation.
The active relations that Barcelona already enjoys with several cities in Asia, both at the bilateral level –noteworthy are the numerous political and technical delegations received over recent years– and within the framework of European exchange programmes and multilateral networks, serve as a basis to continue expanding and strengthening collaboration and exchanges, hand in hand with the support of all those economic, social, cultural and institutional stakeholders involved.
Document: Asia Strategy of Barcelona City Council. November 2022.
[Catalan] [Spanish]
Participation in international organizations and boards of trustees
With regard to participation in international organizations, we must highlight our presence in Casa Asia; The City Council is part of the Board of Trustees of Casa Asia, together with the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Spanish Government and the City Council of Madrid. It is an entity created to achieve a better knowledge of Asia and strengthen dialogue with this area on issues such as the economy, the environment or culture, among others. This institution seeks to improve reciprocal relations.
The international projection of the city has also found a mechanism through the presence in the trustees of three foundations linked to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation:
