During 2017, apte is emphasising the potential of Spanish science and technology parks to welcome companies and entities from all over the world that wish to know and operate in the Spanish market. What actions is ICEX taking to attract foreign entities to Spain in which APTE can collaborate by offering the parks as landing platforms?
ICEX maintains recurring contacts with APTE and with the different technology parks associated with APTE.
In the activities of promotion and attraction of investments of foreign companies that are always carried out by ICEX, in a systematic way, references to the technological mapping of APTE parks in both industrial and technological sectors as well as business services are incorporated, which have an increasing importance. These activities - more than 160 days per year combined - are carried out in target countries.
In addition, ICEX manages the INTELLIGENT TECHNOLOGICAL FUND programme, a subsidy of a minimum of 200,000 € maximum per project, to encourage the location of R&D activities of foreign companies in Spanish subsidiaries. Spanish subsidiaries in these parks, in certain Autonomous Communities1, may apply for this programme.
This program is complementary to the financial programs and incentives managed by other entities of the Central and Regional Administration. Among them, and on behalf of the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness, the support of the Centre for Technological and Industrial Development (CDTI) and the financing available at ENISA are noteworthy.
In addition, ICEX participates in conferences on conditions for foreign investment or business climate in Spain, at the request of the technology parks themselves.
To these activities should be added those related to specific investment projects by foreign companies, which ICEX manages in coordination with the promotion agencies of the Autonomous Regions. In these cases, information is provided on the technology parks considered by the investment companies and on-site visits are even organised with the company undergoing prospecting to assess the development of the project in Spain. In these cases, those responsible for the management of the park in question are always available.
Another of the objectives of APTE during the current year is to promote even more the internationalization of the entities and companies located in the science and technology parks, so we would like to know which are the current internationalization programs that ICEX has that these companies could benefit from.
ICEX offers a wide range of support services for internationalization: training, market information, support and advice to start or consolidate your international business; promotional activities at international events of reference; missions to foreign countries; participation of Spanish SMEs in international projects that are awarded to large Spanish companies; open innovation programs with multinationals....
In addition to programmes aimed at promoting the products and services of Spanish companies abroad, ICEX is also responsible for attracting investment to Spain. In this field, ICEX has specific programs aimed at technology-based companies that wish to establish themselves in Spain, taking advantage of the advantages of the local ecosystem and promoting the attraction of talent to our country.
Finally, through the network of Spanish Economic and Commercial Offices abroad, we provide personalized services to each company, usually information or search for local partners.
For just over a year, APTE has been implementing a programme to promote business mobility between science and technology parks at international level, called Enterprise Eurolodging, the aim of which is to facilitate the first internationalisation activities for start-ups or entrepreneurs located in parks. Does ICEX have any special internationalization program for entrepreneurs and/or startups that may be complementary to the activity carried out by APTE
Indeed. In 2016, we launched the first initiative to attract foreign business talent promoted by the Spanish Administration, called RISING STARTUP SPAIN. This is a programme to attract foreign entrepreneurs and startups, with which we want to attract not only talent to Spain but also innovative business models of high value for our business fabric. In this way, we intend to contribute to strengthening the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Spain by channelling successful foreign startups to Spain.
RISING STARTUP SPAIN offers a total of 15 winning companies a package of services aimed at facilitating the landing of these companies and boosting the penetration of their products and services in the Spanish market. These services are a fast-track for obtaining a visa (in the case of non-EU entrepreneurs), free work space in the cities of Madrid and Barcelona, a non-refundable grant of 10,000 euros for initial expenses, a high value mentoring adapted to the needs of the company and visibility in specialized media in entrepreneurship. The program is led and managed by ICEX-Invest in Spain with the collaboration of the city councils of Madrid and Barcelona and other relevant actors in the world of entrepreneurship.
I would like to stress that the programme is mainly aimed at companies whose products or services already have a market response, either in terms of customers or turnover.
We are very pleased with the results of the first call launched in 2016, in which we had a high demand with 155 applications from all over the world and in a wide variety of sectors. We hope that the second call, which we launched on 1 June and which will be open until the end of July, will be just as successful.
In addition, ICEX has since 2011, in collaboration with Red.es, an immersion program in the San Francisco area for ICT companies: the Spain Tech Center (STC). Its objective is to insert Spanish companies in one of the most innovative and competitive environments in the world. Companies are offered a pre-departure preparation and advice program in the U.S. and, once there, are given access to the services they may need, including investor negotiation rounds. It pays special attention, but not only, to the digital economy sectors, such as cybersecurity and e-commerce, and is designed for companies that have demonstrated traction in the national or European market; with a single or differentiated product; a clear entry strategy to the U.S. market and a product adapted to it.
From your point of view, which are the most attractive international markets that you currently recommend that Spanish companies go to
There is no single answer to this question, as the market selection process involves different factors such as timing, tariff and non-tariff barriers, cultural affinity or language, the type of sector and the leadership played by some countries, and of course the company's own product and human resource capabilities. Our network of almost 100 sales offices abroad is available to all companies.
Finally, we would like to know what kind of requirements are being demanded by the large multinationals when they set up in Spain and if you think that science and technology parks meet these requirements
Most of the large multinationals are already established in Spain and many of them have a presence in some of the technology parks in our country. And this is so, among other things, because this type of company is looking for physical environments with excellent infrastructure and connectivity, with first-class service provision and a good availability of trained human resources. Technology parks have these characteristics and offer foreign companies an ecosystem that facilitates their development and competitiveness, apart from being a prestigious location for this type of entity.
On the other hand, technology parks represent an unparalleled platform for public-private collaboration and connection between innovative entrepreneurship and large companies, something that multinationals are increasingly opting for. This trend is something that we have been seeing since ICEX, when we analyze what our clients, foreign companies with investment projects, that show more and more interest in Spanish technology parks, are proposing to us.
