Today, foreign investor interest in Asturias is still high

Jaime Montalvo, Project Manager at ICEX – Invest in Spain: “When considering the quality of life factor it is very difficult to find an offer that can top that of this region”

The Project Manager at the Spanish Foreign Trade Institute – ICEX-Invest in Spain, has dubbed the current climate for attracting projects to the region of Asturias as “excellent”. In particular, he mentions that the Principality has “a favourable and welcoming environment, good availability of trained human resources, a top-level client and supplier base, and the strong support of regional authorities”. And when quality of life comes into play, “it is very difficult to find an offer that can top that of this region”, he ensures.

– After the financial crisis, are there also green shoots in investment?

– Foreign investment figures in Spain over the past three years have been very favourable and reveal that investors have strengthened their trust in our country. Following the strong investment growth in 2014 and 2015, flow rates were consolidated in 2016, and in the first half of 2017, a growth rate was observed of almost 10% compared to the same period the previous year.

-The investment climate for Spain is therefore positive.

-The investment climate in Spain is very positive, as revealed over recent years, in which our country has positioned itself as the second greatest host country for direct foreign investment in the EU. Investors value the growth and stability of our economy, legal certainty and the commitment of Public Administrations with the promotion of productive investments. All of this within a physically secure setting, with quality of life for expatriates.

– And in Asturias?

– In terms of Asturias it is worth highlighting the same factors that are true for the country as a whole. The best testimony that the investment climate in Asturias is excellent can be seen in the foreign and Spanish companies that operate in the Principality. Asturias offers a favourable and welcoming setting, available trained human resources, a top-level client and supplier base, and the strong support of regional authorities. Obviously, in terms of quality of life it is difficult to find an offer that can top that of this region.

– What would you say to foreign companies when it comes to ‘selling’ its virtues?

– I would first explain that Asturias has been a success story in terms of the capacity of a region to transform its economic model from one based on basic industries to one that is centred on high-added value industries and services. Today, Asturias is a very different reality to the one they might imagine, and is a veritable land of opportunities. As such, I would invite them to visit Asturias and to talk to the companies that are settled in the Principality to prove it.

Extract from the interview by Susana Baquedano for the El Comercio newspaper, published on 22nd October 2017.

10 November, 2017 /  

Foreign investment grew by 8.6% in Asturias, positioning the region in 3rd place within Spain.

  • The productive foreign investment position in Spain grew by 1.9% in 2015
  • 18 million employment positions depend on this investment in Spain, some 1.5% more than in 2014

The total position of foreign investment (stock) in Spain was positioned at 387,315 million euros upon closing 2015, with an increase of 0.5% over 2014 figures. If the Entities Holding Foreign Securities (ETVE in Spanish) that do not have direct economic effects are deducted, the productive investment reached 347,745 million euros, some 1.9% more than in the previous tax year, according to data from the 12,346 companies that feature in the Foreign Investments Registry (RIE in Spanish).

1.18 million employment positions depend on these productive investments, some 1.5% more than in 2014. The turnover generated by foreign stock, rose to 389,450 million euros, around a third of the Spanish GDP, with an increase of 2% over the previous year.

The profits of the companies with foreign investor shares – for these purposes only those with percentages above 10% are taken into account – increased by 6.6%, to 21,310 million euros.

Foreign investment stock is the result of adding the value of the shares in net worth (book value) of the company in which the direct investment is made, and the outstanding balance of the net loans of non-resident investors to these companies.

With regards to the source of the investment, the United States tops the list, with 14.4%; followed by the United Kingdom (12.8%), Italy (11.8%) and France (11.5%). The top ten countries represent 80.7% of the stock.

The stock by investment receiving sectors has remained stable over recent years, and centres on the supply of electrical energy and gas (15.8%); the manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products (8.7%); telecommunications (6.7%); wholesale trade and commercial intermediation (6.5%); and real estate activities (4.9%), among others.

By autonomous communities, 87% of the stock distribution is concentrated in just four of them: Madrid (64.5%); Catalonia (13.7%); Asturias (5.1%); and the Basque Country (3.7%), though it should be noted that the so-called “headquarters effect” tends to overestimate the locations in the major economic hubs.

The stock statistics are published with so much delay because, for the purposes of the RIE, the accountable closure of the 2015 tax year of foreign companies that invest in Spain is performed until 30th June 2016 and the companies have a further 9 months to declare their investments (until March 2017).

Source: Ministry for the Economy, Industry and Competitiveness

8 Juni, 2017 /  

Corporate forum: “Bilateral relationship between Mexico-Asturias: Success stories and investment opportunities”

Within the framework of the institutional visit that the Government of the Principality of Asturias made to Mexico and Colombia between 23rd and 28th April 2017, a packed schedule of meetings and promotional activities was organised to share the opportunities that Asturias has to offer companies in both countries. The most notable act took place in Mexico D.F. on Thursday, 27th April, in Hotel Presidente Intercontinental Polanco; a corporate forum entitled “Bilateral relationship between Mexico-Asturias: Success stories and investment opportunities”.

12 Mai, 2017 /  

The “material of the future” already here in Asturias

Never has the world of science expected a material so eagerly as it has graphene, which is generating a huge amount interest. The potential that has been associated with it is so great that it is starting to be known as “the material of the future”, but what is graphene?

31 März, 2017 /  

Aviles: land of engineering giants.

The Aviles-based quay in Valliniello makes an impressive entry into the history books of the Port of Aviles, with the shipment of the longest ever piece to be loaded onto a ship in the estuary.

2 Februar, 2017 /  

A quarter of a century of the binomial Thyssen-Asturias

Thyssenkrupp Norte – the company belonging to the German holding company Thyssenkrupp AG – which manufactures escalators and moving walkways from the La Pereda Mieres-based industrial estate, is celebrating 25 years of activity in Asturias.

19 Januar, 2017 /