foreign investment

The company working on creating mobile applications and payment systems will arrive in the Catalan capital in July. It will start by creating 75 direct jobs but its plans are to gradually increase staff figures. Transax will operate from Barcelona to Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. The Catalan Government’s Invest in Catalonia programme has facilitated the Canadian company’s arrival. Furthermore, the Catalan Business Minister emphasised that Catalonia was the European region that received the greatest direct foreign investment in 2012, according to a report by the Financial Times.

In addition, in 2012, the Catalan capital was the world’s 5th best ranked city in the area of life quality and urban prosperity, after Tokyo, Stockholm, Paris and Oslo. Barcelona was also among the international centres regarding tourist figures, being the 4th European city which receives the highest number of foreign tourists. It is also the second best city in Europe for shopping and it is among the best in Europe for doing business, after gaining competitiveness by reducing life costs. Barcelona is the 13th world city in global competitiveness, the 12th in the number of foreign investment projects and the 10th in scientific production. Furthermore, it is the only European city with 2 business schools ranked among the continent’s top ten (IESE and ESADE).

47 foreign investment industrial projects, bringing in €331.88 million, landed in Catalonia last year through ‘Invest in Catalonia’, a programme from the Catalan Government. This represents 37% more investments than in 2011. The projects created 2,324 new jobs and they also allowed companies to keep 2,566 positions. Besides, the Spanish Ministry for the Economy stated that foreign investment in Spain dropped by 43% in total and by 14% in Catalonia. The Catalan Business Minister, Felip Puig, explained that the Spanish Ministry data includes financial investments. However, Puig emphasised that the Spanish Ministry’s report also states that industrial and manufacturing investments in Catalonia increased by 6.2% and 11% respectively.

Booking.com is a Dutch hotel and accommodation booking company. Leader in its sector, it has decided to open in Barcelona one of its 5 customer support centres worldwide. In the context of the current economic crisis, the arrival of the company in the Catalan capital is positive because Booking.com has announced that the opening will create 250 jobs. Catalan Business Minister Felip Puig emphasised that the decision of the Dutch company proves that “Barcelona and Catalonia are attracting poles”.

Investindustrial, PortAventura’s only shareholder since last November, will invest €75 million in enlarging the park’s facilities within the next five years. The amusement park, located in the Costa Daurada in Southern Catalonia, near Salou and Tarragona, has already been enlarged over the last few years adding the water park Caribe Aquatic next to the beach and several adjacent hotel resorts. Furthermore, the Italian group will change the park’s brand to: ‘PortAventura: European Destination Resort’. Investindustrial aim to reach 5 million visitors per year, half of which will come from abroad. As a start, the Italian group is investing €10 million in new projects for this new season, which will kick off on the 22nd of March.

After having reached an agreement on the measures to increase competitiveness with the trade unions last week, the Japanese multinational car manufacturer finally confirmed on Monday that its Barcelona plant will be building Nissan’s new saloon car model as of July 2014. The decision will bring in a direct investment of €130 million, creating 1,000 direct positions in the Nissan factory and 3,000 indirect jobs in the Catalan automobile parts supply industry. After seven months of talks, including a critical period when Barcelona seemed to be out of the race, the Nissan managers and trade unions finally reached an agreement early last week, based on a 20% salary reduction for new workers and guaranteeing the oldest jobs. The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, emphasised that Nissan’s announcement confirms that Catalonia is “an attractive and reliable country”.

The Catalan Government criticised the Spanish Executive’s obstacles to Catalonia’s own external relations action, as “in a globalised world” this “is not a caprice”, but essential to be recognised at an international level and to attract foreign investment. The Catalan Minister for the Presidency, in charge of External Relations, Francesc Homs, criticised the Spanish Government’s “old-fashioned” way of understanding diplomacy and gave the example of spending in 2012 “€330,000 on cutlery and table cloths”. Homs emphasised the main commercial focus of Catalonia’s external offices and their “modesty”. The Catalan Government has a total of 5 political representation offices – including for the European Union – and 34 commercial offices.

Trade unions refused to sign the Japanese company’s final offer to increase the competitiveness of Barcelona’s plant by reducing salaries and changing working conditions, so Nissan announced the end of the talks after 6 months of negotiation and meditation by the Catalan Government. Before Christmas, the Japanese company had already warned the unions that talks were coming to an end as the production of the new sedan car needed to be allocated. Back then Nissan presented a final offer, which has however been modified in the last few days. Once the agreement seemed to be imminent, Nissan floated the idea of a two-day reduction in holiday days, which the unions immediately rejected. Nissan warned that its Barcelona plant might now face “a slow-death scenario”.

The Catalan theme park PortAventura, located on the Costa Daurada, between Tarragona and Salou, will be completely controlled by Investindustrial, a fund run by the Bonomi family. Portaventura is the only profitable theme park in Spain and one of only a few in Europe. Investindustrial is buying the remaining 50% of the park for €105 million. Furthermore, they have announced a future investment of €80 million to foster the park’s international expansion. PortAventura is located next to the land where the €6 billion mega-resort Barcelona World will be built. The Italian group has a consolidated trajectory of investing large amounts of capital in businesses from a wide range of sectors to ensure growth.

The Catalan Government has confirmed that a framework agreement has been reached with the project's promoters, with the green light from Barcelona’s City Council. However the final details are still pending negotiation. No public funds from Catalan institutions will be allocated. The Catalan President, Artur Mas, will sign the agreement during his trip to Russia, scheduled for between Wednesday and Friday. Barcelona’s Hermitage will very likely occupy three old warehouses located at the city port, in front of the beach and the luxury hotel W. The architectural project was released two weeks ago and will fully renovate the old warehouses, which will have their own dock and three floors, including a basement. The Hermitage has already opened other centres outside Saint Petersburg, in Amsterdam, Ferrara and Kazan.

‘Barcelona World’, located next to Salou’s beaches and PortaAventura, will have 6 new theme parks, as well as 12,000 hotel rooms, casinos, convention centres, golf courses and other amusement facilities. 10 million people are expected to visit the mega-resort funded by Veremonte each year, which will create 40,000 jobs. ‘Barcelona World’, located next to Tarragona in the Costa Daurada, will be Europe’s largest amusement resort and among the world’s largest, targeting family and business tourism. Construction may be complete by late 2016. The project has been announced after the expiration of the offer made to Las Vegas Sands to build its casinos next to Barcelona. This American company has not announced if it will finally build ‘Eurovegas’ in Madrid yet, but the Barcelona option seems to be ruled out.

The multinational chemical company explains that they would invest more money if the Mediterranean Railway Corridor were already a reality. This infrastructure is being delayed by the Spanish Government and it would enable the transportation of freight on international standard width railway from Catalan ports to Central Europe, and vice versa.

The decision represents the creation of 700 direct and indirect jobs. Car manufacturer Nissan has confirmed it will build the new ‘e-NV200’, a totally electric van at its Zona Franca plant from next year. The plant is located in Barcelona, next to the city’s port and airport. From there, the new van will be distributed worldwide. Barcelona competed with other Nissan plants in China, Japan and Mexico. In addition, Nissan managers were confident that Barcelona’s plant could produce other models in the future.

The Russian company Lukoil has reached an agreement with the Catalan company Meroil to build 13 new oil tanks at Barcelona Port, which are able to store 360,000 cubic metres. Furthermore, Barcelona Port is the only Mediterranean port ready to host the largest and deepest oil tankers. The Catalan President, Artur Mas, unveiled the infrastructure and emphasised Catalonia is strengthening its position as “Europe’s gateway for goods coming from Asia and North Africa”. He also noted Catalonia’s attractive position for foreign investment. Barcelona Port is linked by international width standard railway with Central Europe and has the Zona Franca logistics and industrial district next to it.

The Japanese multinational company has chosen Catalonia’s capital for a new international sales centre serving the entire European Union. The centre will create 300 high-qualified jobs by 2013, when it will be fully operational. The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, unveiled the new centre, while he pointed out the strong business relationship between Japan and Catalonia. He also emphasised the “business friendly policy” of the Catalan Government.