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 22^nd October 2017.