Redaccion
Jiménez Aira takes office with the challenge of projecting the port as a «strategic node in logistics and global trade»
The Minister of Industry, Energy Transition, and Sustainability of the Basque Government, Mikel Jauregi, has met at the port of Bilbao with the new president of the Port Authority of Bilbao (APB), Iván Jiménez, whom he welcomed, along with the outgoing president, Ricardo Barkala. Jiménez Aira has taken office with the challenge of projecting the port as a «strategic node in logistics and global trade.»
This is the first meeting that Jauregi has held with the new president of the Port Authority, accompanied by Barkala, who has led the port since July 2018 and stepped down last Wednesday. The minister wanted to express his gratitude for the services provided by Barkala and highlighted his work and dedication over the past seven years.
Iván Jiménez Aira took office as president of the Port Authority of Bilbao on Thursday after his appointment was published in the Official Gazette of the Basque Country (BOPV) and the Official State Gazette (BOE), approved by the Basque Government’s Council on June 24.
As stated in a joint statement by the Department of Industry and the Port, Jiménez Aira is a professional «with an international perspective, capable of projecting the port of Bilbao as a strategic node in logistics and global trade.»
They highlighted that he is an executive with over 20 years of experience in developing strategies based on data, innovation, and international partnerships, taking on this new role at the Port Authority with the aim of «addressing the upcoming challenges of a key location for the economy of the Basque Country, acting as a strategic node in international trade and a crucial infrastructure for the competitiveness of the Basque industry.»
«His experience in negotiation and institutional relations, combined with his strategic vision and expertise in big data, make him the ideal leader to modernize and project the port of Bilbao on the global stage. He has the potential to develop innovation and digitization, with a special focus on strategic data management for operational efficiency, sustainability, and intelligent decision-making,» they emphasized.
CAREER
Iván Jiménez Aira (Barakaldo, 1975) holds a degree in Law, specializing in Juridical-Economic, from the University of Deusto, with a Master’s in Business Administration from Deusto Business School, and in Business Analytics from ESADE. He has completed a Digital Training program from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and is fluent in five languages (Basque, Spanish, English, French, and Italian).
From 2011 to 2025, he served as the director of Bizkaia Talent – a non-profit organization focused on attracting, retaining, and connecting highly qualified personnel with the Basque Country – promoted by, among other entities, the Provincial Council of Bizkaia. At Bizkaia Talent, he developed strategies based on data, innovation, and international partnerships.
He has also worked as an advisor on various projects for the European Commission related to international mobility and territorial competitiveness, and has been a speaker at international events on talent management at an international level and on digitization and data analytics.
Prior to this, he was responsible for large and medium-sized companies in the northern area of Mapfre, and co-founder of ‘Soineko,’ the first textile store to start online sales in the Basque Country.
