Monaco-Spain Business Meeting at the CEOE

The opening of the Meeting was attended by the President of CEOE International, Marta Blanco, the Ambassador of Monaco, Catherine Fautrier-Rousseau, the Executive Director General of the Monaco Economic Board, Guillaume Rose, the International Director of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, Jaime Montalvo, and the Deputy Assistant Director General for Non-EU Europe, Asia and Oceania of the Secretariat of State for Trade, Laura Jarillo. 

The president of CEOE International, Marta Blanco, stated that internationalisation and the role of companies abroad are key factors in the economic recovery, work on which must continue, and she stressed the importance of public-private partnership to implement new projects. 

Marta Blanco also highlighted the international competitiveness, experience and leadership of Spanish companies in strategic sectors, as well as the contribution they can make to achieving further development in these sectors.

On the other hand, she highlighted some of Spain’s strengths as a hub for foreign investment in Spain, which also acts as a gateway to other markets. In this connection, he specifically mentioned Madrid as a destination for foreign companies, since it offers numerous opportunities and it a place where businesses are concentrated in Spain.

For her part, the ambassador of Monaco stressed the need to work together on future opportunities and to open a new era in relations between the two countries.

The Executive Director General of the Monaco Economic Board presented his organisation and how it operates and gave an overview of the Principality and its economy, highlighting its strategic location, political and economic stability and security as its main characteristics. Moreover, Monaco has a diversified and balanced economy that is geared towards the digital and energy transition. Finally, Guillaume Rose reported on structural projects seeking to guarantee the development and increase the attractiveness of the Principality. 

In his speech, the international director of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce referred to Monaco as a safe and reliable economy, a leader in various sectors, and he set out various possible areas for collaboration, such as the mobility sector, logistics, transport, trade and tourism. Thus, he said that, in these sectors, public-private partnerships have developed with great results. 

The Deputy Assistant Director General for Non-EU Europe, Asia and Oceania set out the various points of commonality and complementarity between the two economies, and highlighted the vast potential for improvement in the volume of trade and investment and the importance of joint cooperation.

She also highlighted the competitiveness of the Spanish economy and the aspects that foreign investors value in Spain, including that our country also acts as a platform for investment in other markets such as Latin America and North Africa. 

This was followed by a business presentation about Madrid in which the Director of Investor Services of the Madrid Business Confederation (CEIM), Rocío Güemes, and the Director of Invest in Madrid Projects, Diego de Arístegui, participated. During this session, it was noted that, in 2021, Madrid was the leading destination for foreign investment in Spain and the numerous advantages it offers were set out. Those highlighted included its free economy and advantageous taxation, its qualified human capital, its state-of-the-art infrastructure, its direct access to the main markets and the natural bridge it offers to Latin America, the fact it is a technological centre in the south of Europe, its powerful entrepreneurial and innovative ecosystem, as well as its unique quality of life, with first class public services. 

This was followed by a colloquium in which the companies were given the opportunity to present their activity and projects.

The Meeting was closed by the Director General of the Economy at Madrid City Council, María Ángeles Prieto, and the Director General of the Economy of the Region of Madrid, Juan Manuel López Zafra. The Meeting stressed the importance of public-private partnerships and the need to rely on private companies in all strategic sectors to strengthen the economy. This is why various clusters of sectors have been created in Madrid, such as audiovisual, video games, fintech, insurance, digital health, big data, cybersecurity and construction, architecture and engineering. Finally, the Region of Madrid was described as the most open and competitive in Spain and the many advantages and attractions that it offers international investors were highlighted.