financial times

Pere Aragonès told Spanish PM to be 'courageous'

For the third time in a row, FT's 'fDi Magazine' recognizes country's economic potential and strategy for attracting foreign investors

Public business agency chosen for fDi Strategy Award from among 112 candidates from all over the world

Latest developments over the October 1 independence referendum draw further attention from top international media

The Financial Times report FDi European Cities and Regions of the future 2016/2017, recognised Catalonia as the best Southern European region to invest in for 2016 and 2017. To make the most of this prognosis, the Catalan Minister for Business and Knowledge, Jordi Baiget, visited London this Monday, in the framework of the 'Brexit' plan, which aims to promote foreign investment in Catalonia and strengthen trade relations with the United Kingdom. At a meeting with thirty businessmen and international investors at the headquarters of the newspaper the Financial Times, Baiget explained that that there is "no anxiety" among investors regarding the political process going on in Catalonia, but rather only "interest". Furthermore, the Catalan Minister stressed that investors really value “Catalonia’s assets”, such as its “good communications and trained and qualified people”. 

2015 was the second best year, in terms of foreign investment, since the historical series began in 1993. Catalonia attracted €4.8 billion this past year, 57.8% more than the foreign investment registered in 2014, and only exceeded by the record €4.9 billion registered in 2010. Thus, Catalonia attracted 22% of the foreign investment received in the whole of Spain, second only to Madrid, which attracted 46.5% of the international investment. However, foreign investment in Madrid decreased by 1.2% this past 2015 in comparison to 2014. These data indicates that Catalonia’s push for independence is not dissuading foreign investors, on the contrary; during the first trimester of 2015, Catalonia was the leading region in Continental Western Europe in terms of investment. 

Pro-independence parties have “achieved” their goal in “winning 72 of the 135” seats in the Catalan Parliament, stated an editorial in the Financial Times published this Tuesday. The British business daily insisted that once Spain has held national elections at the end of this year, a new government in Madrid needs to enter into talks with President Mas, to “find a third way between independence and the status quo”. However, the editorial is titled “Catalonia needs to step back from the brink”, since it puts forward the idea that Mas has “less legitimacy to implement his plan” considering that the percentage of voters who supported a clear ‘yes’ for independence was less than 50%.

The Barcelona-based business schools IESE and ESADE have been ranked among the 10 best business schools in the world according to the Executive Education Ranking 2015 by the ‘Financial Times’. For the 17^th year, the British newspaper rated the best 85 customised programmes (tailor-made for corporate customers) and the top 75 open programmes (available to all working managers) in the world. With regard to the customised programme ranking, IESE came top worldwide while ESADE (part of the Ramon Llull University) is ranked 12^th. As for the classification of the open programmes for executives, IESE ranked 3^rd globally while ESADE was 7^th. Among the top 100 educational institutions in the ranking, one can find another Catalan business school as well: Barcelona’s EADA is in 61^st position for its customised programmes, and in 56^th for the open ones.

The Financial Times recently ranked the top twenty business schools for undertaking an MBA (Master of Business Administration) programme. Two of these schools are in Barcelona: IESE and ESADE, 7^th and 19^th in the world ranking respectively. Both have around a 90% international student intake for these courses. In recent years, Barcelona has become a global educational destination for MBA students that come to the city attracted by the quality of the schools but also by the city brand and the lifestyle. However, Barcelona is not only a player in business but also in the field of economic research and investigation. 

In an article published on Tuesday in the prestigious ‘Financial Times’, the newspaper’s chief foreign affairs commentator, Gideon Rachman, deplored Madrid’s attitude towards Catalan independence claims, opposing it to the “peaceful” and “consensual” Scottish referendum process enabled by the British Government. The journalist underlined that “there are remarkably few examples of nations breaking up in a civilised way”, mentioning China’s relations with Taiwan, or Turkey’s attitude towards Kurdistan. “Even in democratic Europe, Spain is refusing to contemplate the idea of an independence referendum for Catalonia”, he added. London’s attitude regarding the Scottish case, on the other hand, should be viewed as “a model” for other separatist cases, recognising the UK as a union of nations and stressing the people’s right to decide.

Contemporary Catalan literature is being well received amongst British critics. The BBC recently interviewed Catalan writer Marc Pastor on the hit show ‘Meet the Author’ to introduce the English translation of his novel ‘La Mala Dona’ (known as ‘Barcelona Shadows’ for UK readers), which was published by Pushkin Press in January 2^nd. Critics have also praised ‘Maletes perdudes’ (‘Lost Luggage’), a novel by Catalan writer Jordi Puntí, who took part in the British Library’s European Literature Night last May. Another English publishing house has bought the rights of ‘Jo confesso’ (‘I confess’), a Catalan best-seller by author Jaume Cabré, and plans to publish it on 2015.

The Spanish Foreign Affairs Minister, José Manuel García-Margallo, said that Spain could “consider” the admission of an independent Scotland within the EU. In a front-page article published this Monday in the Financial Times, Margallo argued that if the Scottish people gained independence through a “legal” process, Spain would not interfere. However, the Minister warned that the Scots would have to “join the waiting line and ask for admission” to enter the EU. The article underlined that “Margallo’s nuanced stance towards Scotland stood in marked contrast to his uncompromising rhetoric on Catalonia”, “two fundamentally different” cases according to him. The President of the Catalan People’s Party – Margallo’s party - reacted to the interview and stated that his words had been misinterpreted: Spain would assess Scotland’s admission but would not approve it.

Juan Rosell, the current Chairman of Spain’s main association of employers (CEOE), and who used to chair the main Catalan employers association, stated that Catalan businesspeople are shifting towards pro-self-determination stands. Rosell, who is openly against Catalonia’s independence, stated that “business people are not aliens” and “if society has changed its views in the last few years, so have businesspeople”. The top representative of Spanish business-owners stated that the current moment is “extremely serious”. Rosell demanded to “bridge the gap, put all the economic data on the table and analyse the pros and cons for one side and the other one” regarding Catalonia’s independence from Spain. Rosell asserted that companies have not left Catalonia due to the self-determination process.