OHL participates in the II USA – EU Forum

Francisco Marin Nortes, North America director of the OHL Construcción division, has participated in the II USA – EU Forum: Looking into the future, organized by the Euro-American Foundation and which took place in Miami on the 15th and 16th of May, intended to exchanged experiences, promote the dialog and cooperation between the US and the EU.

The OHL director participated in the panel Infrastructure sector: challenges and opportunities. The PPP model in Europe and in the US which was also attended by, among others, Rafael Catala, Secretary of State of Transportation and Housing Infrastructure, Ananth Prasad, Secretary of Transportation of Florida, Anne Lee, Director of Finance of the International Airport of Miami, Felix Pereira, Planning Director of the Port of Miami, Juan Carlos Arteaga, Sub director of Water and Sewage, Miami Dade and Felix Leinemann, Council of Transport of the EU Delegation in Washington. Francisco Marin Nortes was outstanding in his presentation regarding the relevant role worldwide of Spanish concessionary and construction groups “from the point of view of internationalization and technological advance”. In this sense he reminded, based on the ranking made by Public Works Financing, that “four large groups of Spanish concessionaires are among the top ten transportation infrastructure operators in the international market”. Meanwhile, in the construction area, the ranking made by Engineering News Record (ENR) places seven Spanish groups among the top 50 constructors with most international activity in the world.

Infrastructures are key for the growth and a key factor for the development of any country. In this context, Francisco Marin specified the existing limitations from the public funding point of view to undertake infrastructure projects and emphasized that the public-private collaboration in transportation infrastructure projects is a reality that has been consolidating. Thus, “while Europe has been a benchmark in the application of this system, in the United States the process has been slow but growing.” OHL presence in the United States, Francisco Marin, addressed this issue in his participation regarding OHL’s positioning in the United States. “OHL considers USA as a reference market.” The Group is present in this country through its divisions OHL Construcción, OHL Industrial and OHL Concesiones.

Focusing on OHL USA, which carries out civil engineering work and singular construction projects, he specified that since 2006, after the procurement of the Community Asphalt and The Tower Group construction companies in Florida, “growth of their main financial parameters has been constant.” Thus, sales from 2006 to 2013 have grown by more than 130%, portfolio has advanced by approximately 80% and staff, which currently is comprised of more than 1,200 employees, has increased by 30%.