Internationalization support
The Territorial Network of Commerce
Territorial Network: a network of representations in provinces and autonomous communities by
all of Spain.
are offices of the State Secretariat of Commerce and
of the ICEX (organism of which we are going to speak in the next point)
The Commerce delegation is a point of contact for proximity, where
companies can find guidance and a way to get in touch with the
central agencies located in Madrid or with the Commercial Offices in the
Foreign
The network of Commercial Offices abroad
The Commercial Offices have specialized personnel in trade issues
Exterior
For the company it can be a source of help for key aspects of its activity.
For example, as a source of information
The Commercial Offices can also serve to identify potential
importers or partners
provide logistic support to the company,
helping you in matters that for a Spanish company can be very
complicated from Spain, how to get an interpreter, know which is the most
recommended, or organize meeting agendas for the Spanish company.
Key organizations in Spain
In this section we will explain, as we have indicated, which are the organisms
key public authorities in the Spanish central administration in terms of support for
internationalization of the company
We have identified seven key agencies
Secretary of State for Commerce,
integrated in the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness
Thus, in order to expedite the processing of operations, in 2017 it was approved
a line for small and medium projects (up to three million dollars)
FIEM (Fund for the Internationalization of the Company).
The FIEM is the heir of the former Development Aid Fund. The FIEM grants
financial support in the form of credits
In the article we are going to focus on the organisms of the
Central administration. We are not going to deal therefore with the organisms at the
autonomic or municipal. Nor are we going to deal with private entities or
semi-public entities such as the Chambers of Commerce
Main types of support
information
about the economy and the conditions for the countries' businesses; studies
of market on sectors; information on foreign trade techniques,
means of payment, transportation, etc.
financing
Identification of potential partners
Exterior. The
Public administrations of many countries, usually through their
embassies, offer services to identify partners.
Subtema
Export to Grow, a resource center on international business of the
Sabadell Bank
Banco Santander also has a website on the Internet, Santander Trade
On the other hand, it is also common that at the level of regional and local governments
there are international promotion agencies.
There are also private entities
Other companies that offer services
banks are usually very active in this regard
DHL, the courier company, has a website with information of interest
The Official Credit Institute (better known by its acronym ICO) is a public bank
attached to the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness.
attached to the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness.
The ICO provides
funds to banks, ensures the interest of export credits that these
grant, acts as financial agent of the Spanish government, etc., but the normal thing is
that a company has no direct relationship with the institution.
The ICO manages, for example, on behalf of the State, the so-called
Reciprocal Interest Adjustment (CARI). It is a kind of "insurance type of
interest, whose objective is to favor Spanish exports by encouraging
granting of credits (with a repayment term of more than two years) at the
fixed interest by financial institutions
A third important activity of ICO is that it acts as the financial agent of the
Spanish government for the FIEM credits
COFIDES:support with financing the investment abroad of companies
Spanish
It is also a company that combines public and private shareholders in its capital
Investment abroad
It may be convenient for many reasons (being close to consumers, avoiding
tariff or other barriers that limit exports, ensure the
supply of inputs, manufacture with more competitive costs). All these elements
favor the competitiveness of the Spanish company, its long-term growth, its
profitability, the creation of additional jobs in Spain.
COFIDES offers in this sense a fundamentally financial support. On the one hand,
can take shares in the capital of the company that a Spanish company
established abroad. In these cases, the vocation of COFIDES is to have
minority shareholding
cesce:
the company
Spanish Export Credit Insurance.
is a public-private company, that is, whose capital shares the State
with private companies, mainly banks.
ensure the collection of operations with the outside.
In certain operations, CESCE acts on behalf of the State: it is normally
of operations of a certain size, in countries that may present risks
especially high political type
CESCE also offers a
insurance for investments abroad, covering various risks
The goal is to make a presentation of the key public bodies that exist in Spain
Many of the countries
often have, at the central government level, promotion agencies
economic in international markets:
like financing
(both exports and investments), or the assurance of operations against
various risks (payment, politicians, etc.)
The ICEX
ICEX develops a wide range of activities aimed at supporting companies.
The ICEX as such does not
It has offices abroad. Its "offices" are the Commercial Offices
ICEX and Commercial Offices act with a close imbrication, and it is
normal that companies do not perceive a differentiation.
The ICEX website collects all the information produced by the Commercial Offices.But the one who performs the study is the Commercial Office.