New ‘Invest in Spain’ Web Portal To Promote Foreign Investment
Spain’s State Secretary for Trade, Xiana Méndez, took part in the closing event of the 11th edition of the Spain Investors Day (SID) economic forum, which gathers together the main Spanish listed companies with international investors from several countries.
During her speech, Xiana Méndez encouraged continued confidence in Spain as an investor destination and highlighted that “this is a wonderful opportunity to see the strengths and opportunities that Spain offers as a country to develop future investments”.
To achieve that, among her ministerial department’s priorities is the promotion of foreign investment in Spain through ICEX Invest in Spain, which has just launched its new portal www.investinspain.org. This new tool, which is more modern and functional, allows foreign investors to easily access the services and programmes of Invest in Spain to facilitate the introduction of international companies in Spain.
In her speech, the State Secretary for Trade underlined that “the indicators available at this time show that the Spanish economy is in a recovery phase. In terms of Spanish international trade, the downward trend of our exports is moderating. In October 2020 (latest monthly figures available), exports grew by 8.74% on the previous month, which is almost up to the same level as 12 months ago”.
In fact, despite the initial impact of the pandemic, Spain continues to consolidate its position as an investment destination and investors continued to trust in our country thanks to the advantages offered by our market and its model of open and competitive economy. Foreign investment in Spain only fell by 6% in the first nine months of 2020 on the same period of 2019, while direct foreign investment fell by 49% globally in the first half of 202, according to UNCTAD.
Even the investment received in Spain in the second and third quarters of 2020 was significantly higher than the amount received in the first three months of the year, to stand above the investment received in the second and third quarters of 2019.
The new Invest in Spain portal
The new online platform is structured around four cornerstones of action by Invest in Spain: information on Spain’s position as a destination for foreign investment; the priority economic sectors and their investment opportunities; a complete description of the establishment of foreign investors to find out how to establish themselves in Spain; and a broad offer of all the services and programmes offered by Invest in Spain, together with direct contact with the external team and network of economic and trade offices of the State Secretariat for Trade.
The goals of the body include attracting new investment projects to Spain, along with talent, thanks to the new initiatives that foster the establishment in Spain of projects with a high level of R&D, such as the ‘Rising Up in Spain’ programme and the Smart Technology Fund. It also seeks financial and industrial investors for Spanish companies and start-ups. In addition, it focuses on retaining investments and the monitoring of companies that have already set up in Spain.
Invest in Spain also acts as an intermediary between investors and the Spanish public authorities, both at a central and a regional level. To achieve that, it has included on its new web portal information on what each of the 17 regional governments offer foreign investors.
In addition, sections have been designed on a cross-cutting nature that show the whole potential of the Spanish ecosystem of entrepreneurship, innovation and sustainability. The portal has sections focused on investors from specific geographic areas, such as the China Desk, aimed at Chinese business owners, which they will find in their own language, and the Latam Desk, for business owners from Latin America.