The regional minister meets the delegation of the Hercules Club at Málaga TechPark, a club made up of investors from companies such as Zurich, Helvetia, UBS and Cross Equity Partners
The regional minister for Economy, Finance and European Funds, Carolina España, claimed that Andalusia is a strategic region for investors from the Hercules Club to invest, a club composed of a group of managers from the leading Swiss multinationals. The regional minister welcomed the executives to Málaga TechPark, who were also accompanied by representatives of several subsidiaries of Swiss companies in Andalusia.
The event was also attended by the Spanish Ambassador to Switzerland, Celsa Nuño; the regional minister for Economy and Trade of the Spanish Embassy in Berne, Juan Diez; the Swiss Ambassador in Málaga, Hanspeter Mock; the CEO of TRADE, Antonio Castro; as well as Guido Persterer, president of the Club.
Carolina España highlighted that “Andalusia is full of attractive assets for investors.” “It is reliable and has a stable economic and secure policy for investment. It is a region that is strongly committed to making things easier for companies, which are our allies,” she explained. “Our policies work and attract wealth. In the last four years, Andalusia has grown twice as fast as the rest of Spain and has been breaking export records for two years in a row,” she added. According to the regional minister, the economic and fiscal policy of Andalusia’s regional government “has made companies choose Andalusia as the region where they want to operate, invest and create employment opportunities. They know Andalusia’s government will support them, as we are fully committed to public-private collaboration.”
Carolina España also highlighted the importance of the existing economic exchanges between Switzerland and Andalusia. That is the case of the exports from Andalusia to Switzerland, which have increased by 60% over the last five years. On the other hand, Switzerland’s investment in Andalusia accounts for 10.2% of total foreign investment in Andalusia.
Carolina España, who is also president of Málaga TechPark, emphasised how much potential the technology park has and its current importance in the Andalusian economy. “Málaga is an international technological benchmark and its technology park is an interesting business ecosystem where innovation spaces, companies and the public administration are brought together to develop highly competitive projects that end up positioning Málaga and Andalusia in the European and international technology sector,” she claimed.
Regarding the tools that the regional government of Andalusia use for investment, Carolina España announced the launch of Andalucía TRADE to investors, an Agency for Economic Transformation and Development. “Through TRADE, we are going to provide R&D&I funds worth 100 million euros, in addition to another 900 million until 2027, for incentives that promote the Andalusian business sector.” “TRADE will be the centre where companies can go to in order to achieve growth, find support and attract wealth in Andalusia,” she stated.
Strengthening ties
The Hercules Club is composed of 60 members, including business owners and managers of Swiss companies, multinationals with subsidiaries in Europe and in Spain. In fact, some of these Swiss companies have a turnover of more than one billion euros. Some of the companies that made up this club are Zurich, HELVETIA, UBS, Cross Equity Partners and Saint Gobain. Every year, the Club selects a destination to hold a meeting and learn about investment opportunities in other countries and regions. They chose Madrid in 2019 and they have chosen Málaga for this year’s meeting.
Several executives of Málaga TechPark took part in the event, such as Antonio Gómez Guillamón, member of Málaga TechPark Execs, CEO of Aertec Solutions and president of Andalucía Aerospace business hub; and Sofia Schneider, vice-president of Cloud Systems SMB, EMEA Oracle. Just before the event started and after the Swiss investors were welcomed at the Málaga City Hall, they had the opportunity to visit Dekra’s circuit for connected vehicles.
The visit has been organised with the support of the Public Business Agency for Economic Transformation and Development, Andalucía TRADE, which is attached to the Andalusian Regional Ministry of Economy, Finance and European Funds. The event was also supported by the Provincial Department of Trade of Málaga, by the ICEX-Invest in Spain and by the Economic and Trade Office of the Spanish Embassy in Bern.