Provence Promotion to attend SITL with the Port of Marseille and Via Marseille Fos

The SITL Europe trade show for carriers, freight forwarders and other supply chain actors will be held in Paris from March 22 to 25, 2016. Provence Promotion will be there, with the Via Marseille Fos association, in Hall 6, at stand J87. This partnership is founded on shared objectives, such as promoting the port of Marseille to potential investors (mass distribution companies, logistics firms, and so on). The organizations will work together to showcase the logistics industry, a business that accounts for 40,000 jobs, or 7.3% of private sector jobs in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, which is higher than the French average for the transportation and storage market.
Rising freight volume, expanding warehouse space and the continuous investments made at the port by its operators are all strengths to earn investors' confidence. The area's strategic focus on new technologies also creates a dynamic that encourages the overall efficiency of the infrastructure. Positioning that leads to new opportunities.

In France, the SITL Europe trade show is a can't-miss event in the logistics industry. It draws some 40,500 professionals to Paris to promote their projects and services and establish relationships with big French and international companies.
Participating in this trade show is also essential for Provence Promotion. With representatives from the entire supply chain, the exhibition enables targeted business meetings that are directly linked to the investment plan underway for Etang de Berre and its surroundings as well as for the Gulf of Fos.

In 2015, logistics-related real estate development broke construction records in Bouches-du-Rhône. Three turnkey operations totaling 165,000 m² were completed for mass retail and specialized retail clients: Carrefour (24,000 m²) at Fuveau, and Cevital (45,000 m²) and Maison du Monde (96,000 m²) in Saint Martin de Crau—the latter being the biggest operation completed in France in 2015. Port and airport cargo figures were also on the rise last year, which points to the soundness of the logistics business in the area.

A logistics industry focused on innovative services

The Marseille-Provence area has structural advantages such as its geographic location at the gateway to southern Europe and the Mediterranean and the presence of diverse logistics platforms (seaport, river port, airport, multimodal, etc.), but it also draws strength from its strategic positioning as an innovation hub. This focus has notably led to the implementation of renewable energy and sustainable development projects, such as the industrial innovation platform at Caban-Tonkin Piicto for circular energy, offshore wind farms and a solar park.

The area has also begun transforming its logistics information systems. Provence-based businesses like Traxens and Marseille Gyptis International (MGI) are developing innovative flow management solutions. Many start-ups are working on connected objects for the transportation sector. These big ideas will be addressed during the trade show on the Connecwave platform set up by France's National RFID Center, where the logistics applications of new technologies will be a featured topic.

These critical skills combined with a favorable climate for logistics operations in the area should catch the attention of new investors. In 2015, 17% of the projects supported by Provence Promotion were in the logistics and services sector.


SITL events on Wednesday, March 23, 2016:
Maritime Day seminars
•    2:30–3:30 p.m., Conference Room 2, Ms. Cabau, Chair of the GPMM Management Committee, will speak at a workshop entitled "Falling oil prices: What is the impact on logistics flows?"
•    4:15–5 p.m., Workshop Room, MGI will present Ci5, the next generation of its Cargo Community System (CCS), set to replace AP+
•    5–6 p.m., Conference Room 2, Traxens on the subject of traceability: Which innovations will create more added value?