Invest in Spain

Foreign direct investment flows (FDI) arriving in Spain in the first six months of 2008 have kept up a positive upward trend. According to Foreign Investment Registry data analyzed by Invest in Spain, gross FDI received in the first six months amounted to 30,323 million euros, 490% more than during the same period of the previous year.

According to the report drawn up by Invest in Spain, the bulk of the FDI figure for Spain can be explained in terms of merger and takeover operations, as is the case for the main economies worldwide. The purchase of Altadis by British company Imperial Tobacco and the purchase of Endesa assets made by E.ON have therefore had a major impact on the FDI figures for the first six months of the year. Nevertheless, even when these two operations are not included, gross FDI reception still shows an increase of 118% in comparison with the first six months of 2007.

Also worthy of mention is the behavior of productive gross investment, which accounted for 17,917 million euros in the first six months of 2008, a rise of 344.5% in comparison with the same period of the previous year. Net investment also went up spectacularly to a figure of 29,091 million, a 1,066% increase, because of a substantial decrease in disinvestments.

The increasing importance of technological sectors

As far as investment sectors are concerned, ‘Wholesale Trade and Trade Intermediation’ received the most FDI in the first half of the year with a figure of 12.848 million euros, as a result of the above-mentioned Altadis operation. Invest in Spain’s report highlights the fact that two sectors have greatly increased their weighting in comparison with the figures for previous years: “Water Collection, Treatment and Distribution”, with 427.5 million euros; and “Telecommunications”, with 249.3 million, an increase of 336%, which underscores current interest in technological and high value added sectors in Spain.

As for the origin of the investment, the countries that have invested the most in Spain have been the United Kingdom, 73.5% of the total, because of the above-mentioned Altadis purchase, France (8.4%), Germany (4.4), Switzerland (2.1) and the Netherlands (2%). Invest in Spain also points to the fact that emerging economies are beginning to play an important role as countries investing in Spain. Libya (10th), Poland (15th), Mexico (16th), South Korea (18th) and Singapore (19th) are all in the top twenty investors in Spain.