Source: www.euskadi.eus.

For the fourth year running, the Financial Times has recognised the Basque Country as an attractive European region in which to invest from among the 148 regions analysed. Specifically, the Basque Country is ranked the first among mid-sized regions for its foreign direct investment strategy and it is also placed in the TOP 10 Southern European Regions. The Financial Times group’s fDi Magazines, specialised in the positioning of markets and international investment flows, has highlighted the work of the SPRI Group’s Invest in the Basque Country department. Furthermore, this year for the first time, Bilbao has entered the ranking of attractive cities for foreign investment, as it is among the Top 10 of mid-sized cities with the best foreign direct investment strategy and one of the most attractive of Southern Europe.

The foreign direct investment strategy in the Basque Country is aimed at attracting high value-added projects that generate jobs and investments in priority sectors for the Basque Country (RIS3). The SPRI Group is therefore working closely with Basque clusters in the search for international projects that complement the work of Basque companies in opportunity niches not covered here. Attracting high-technology to make our companies more competitive is one such example.

This is the fourth consecutive time that this prestigious specialist publication has recognised the “Invest in the Basque Country” work. Last year, it highlighted four aspects of the Invest in the Basque Country strategy of the SPRI Group and of the Basque Government, specifically support for already established companies, Bind 4.0 – the private-public start-up accelerator programme, the incentive systems, as well as the projects to attract foreign investment in the Basque Country, such as Viralgen, the US company.

The Financial Times had previously ranked the Basque Country among the Top 10 most attractive Southern European regions for foreign investment and, three years ago, it ranked the Basque Country as the sixth best European region for foreign investment and highlighted the Basque Country as the mid-sized region offering the best logistics.