INTERES Invest in Spain

In its survey “Baromed 2008, The Next European Frontier”, Ernst & Young reveals that Spain ranks as the second most attractive country for value-added projects and Barcelona is the top destination to do business in within the Euro-Mediterranean area. This region ranks third in the world as regards GDP and FDI.

Analysis of the attractiveness of the Euro-Med area as a destination for foreign investment is one of the key aspects of the new survey published by Ernst & Young, entitled “Baromed 2008, The Next European Frontier”, which classifies the most dynamic and interesting countries and cities in the Euro-Med area in terms of FDI inflows.

After conducting interviews 315 with executives from all over the world, between February and March of this year, the survey shows that Barcelona is considered the most attractive Euro-Med city to do business in. 52% of those surveyed chose this Spanish city as the best destination for investment, followed by Rome with 32% while Valencia also features high up the list, garnering 10% of the votes.

Moreover, Spain is considered the second most attractive country in this region as regards the development and implementation of valued-added projects, headquarters, R&D, logistics and shared service centers, as well as industrial projects.

According to the “Baromed 2008” survey, the global importance of the Euro-Mediterranean area is very high, ranking third in terms of GDP, after North America and the European Union. It also comes third globally in terms of FDI attraction, after the European Union and North America, with inflows amounting to 217 billion dollars in 2006.

In the Euro-Med area FDI still tends to be concentrated on the northern coast, chalking up 923 investment projects in 2007 as opposed to 258 in the south. However, interest in the latter is rising, supported by the fact that 49% of the executives surveyed stated that the attractiveness of the countries on the southern rim has grown over the last three years, and 51% believe that it will continue to grow over the next three years.