Japanese Omron establishes new centre of industrial automation in Barcelona

Barcelona (ACN).- The Japanese multinational Omron, a global leader in the field of automation, has unveiled its new centre of industrial automation in Barcalona, which will be focused on the European market. The company has invested up to 1 million euros in Catalonia, creating 20 highly-qualified new jobs. The centre in Barcelona is the fourth of its kind in the world, the other ones being in Japan, the US and China.

The Catalan minister for Business and Jobs, Francesc Xavier Mena, opened the centre in an event on Friday. “We have succeeded in attracting Omron to Catalonia”, he celebrated. He was accompanied by the Executive Officer of the Automation Systems Division, Shinya Yamasaki, the European Chairman of Omron, Hiroyuki Usui, the director of the centre, Antoni Farràs, the Japanese consul in Barcelona, Takashi Fuchigami and the director of Invest in Catalonia, Joan Josep Berbel.

Minister Mena celebrated the fact that Catalonia has managed to attract the centre to Barcelona, beating rival cities in the Netherlands. The minister said the Catalan government is in contact with 500 companies from all over the world to offer Barcelona for investment and as a platform from which businesses “in Europe, the Middle East and Africa” can develop.

Mena said examples such as the one of Omron show that Catalonia “continues to be an attractive place for international investments” because it offers “a good business atmosphere, proper infrastructure and good consultancies”. This, in turn, benefits the country, especially because the new companies create “economic activities and new jobs” and help to create a highly-developed economic model.

The new Omron centre has a total area of about 1,700 square meters and will also work as space for training Omron engineers working around Europe. The centre will be used to organize meetings and showing new products to clients too. The company expects to invest a further half a million euros in the next few years and expand the staff to 60 engineers.