On Monday, the Minister for Business and Labour, Felip Puig, affirmed that “a 422% growth in foreign investment and a 7.4% growth in exports have placed Catalonia as one of the most open and dynamic economies in the world”. The Minister made these declarations during an event hosted by the Girona Catering Federation in the scope of the 12^th World Tourism Day which is to be celebrated on the September 27.  The day’s event also coincided with the publication of the most recent trade and investment figures which position Catalonia as the number one region in Western Continental Europe to attract foreign investment.

 

Puig asserted that Catalonia “has grown more than ever and is becoming a point of reference in Europe”. “The good results”, he continued, “project us globally as a diverse a solid economy with road-map and which is capable to adapt itself to an increasingly globalized world”.

 

Productive gross foreign investment during the second quarter of 2015 reached a total of 1.3 billion euros in Catalonia, more than five times more than the same period in 2014 (249.6 million euros). This is the highest amount ever recorded in the second term of any year. Furthermore, the results also showed that for the same period, Catalonia accounted for 21.2% of Spain’s total foreign investment.

 

In terms of the first semester of 2015, foreign investment in the Catalan industrial sector accounted for 354.7 million euros, 286.8% more than the same period of previous year (91.7 million euros). Moreover, Catalonia now accounts for 35.1% of the foreign investment going to Spain’s manufacturing industry, 23.7% more than in the first semester of 2014 and representing a 6.5% increase on average investment between 2008 and 2014.

 

With regards to Catalan investment, 245.7 million euros was spent abroad in the first six months of 2015, 3.1% less than the same period in 2014. Conversely, gross foreign investment from the Spanish state as a whole increased by 74.9%, resulting in a total investment of 14.8 billion euros, with the better part of this going to Italy (73.6%).

 

 

According to data from FDI Markets, the Financial Time’s investment monitor, during the first semester of 2015, Catalonia has been the region which has attracted most investment across Western Continental Europe, both in terms job creation as well as in actual investment. During the first semester of 2015, Catalonia has attracted 33 international projects totalling 2.5 billion euros in foreign investment and creating 4,165 direct jobs in the territory.

 

Catalonia’s encouraging results confirm the positive trend and dynamism witnessed in recent years. Likewise, between 2010 and 2014, according to FDI Markets, Catalonia has persistently been in the top places throughout Continental Europe in terms of job creation and attracting investment.