• • Investment support
  • Modern infrastructure
  • Market Access
  • Competitiveness
  • Social and Labor Environment

Investment support

Since 2007 Galicia has been a Convergence objective of the European Union. This means outright grants of up to 30% of subsidizable investments may be obtained, which is one of the best offers of financial support in the EU. Foreign investors are also provided with backing, consultancy, information, etc. through IGAPE (The Galician Economic Promotion Institute) to help them make the best decisions possible when seeking out new locations for their investment projects.

Modern infrastructure

Galicia currently boasts a large network of modern infrastructure; here are a few examples of it:

• Highways: Galicia has a modern network of highways at its disposal which allow congestion-free and fast travel between the main cities of the region.
• Galicia's developed railroad network is soon to be complemented with the construction of the high-speed AVE line, which will connect the region's main cities with Madrid in a maximum time of 3 hours.
• Galician ports have been subject to a huge investment drive over the last few years, particularly in the construction of the international ports of Ferrol and La Coruna. La Coruna is also located on main international shipping routes, as is Vigo. The cities are Spain's two largest fishing ports, while Vigo is also one of Spain's main export ports.
• La Coruna, Santiago and Vigo all boast regional airports which receive international traffic. The three airports all offer different international connections and a large number of daily flights to all the major Spanish cities.
• Vigo offers the only free trade zone in the north west of the Iberian Peninsula.
• Industrial parks. There are a large number of industrial parks distributed throughout Galicia offering a total of over 31 million square meters of land. The availability of land for industrial development is seen increasing significantly with the new parks currently under development.
• Research and technology centers. There are a large number of nationally acclaimed R&D centers in Galicia including the wood research center Cis-Madera, The CETEMAR marine research foundation, The CTAG Technological Automotive Centre, a meteorology laboratory and a technology center for granite and slate.

Market Access

Locating to Galicia means gaining direct access to 50 million Portuguese and Spanish citizens and their high purchasing power. Galicia also offers great potential for access to new markets through the worldwide network of expatriate Galicians. These new markets include countries such as Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, and Venezuela, as well as European countries such as Switzerland and Germany.

Competitiveness

Over the last 18 years Galicia's exports have increased consistently, reporting an average cumulative annual growth rate of 10.9% or 2.4 percentage points higher than for Spain as a whole. In 2008, Galician exports totaled 14,629.40 million euros and imports stood at 14,424.45 million. Galicia's slice of Spain's export market has risen over the last few years to 8.36 % of the total in 2008 from 4.75% in 1990. That has been a higher growth that the one in the import market. The Galician foreign trade coverage ratio went up to 101.42% in 2008, 34.66% higher than in Spain as a whole.

Social and Labor Environment

Galicia offers the potential investor an important industrial framework located in incomparable natural surroundings. Training and education in the region, together with its inhabitants' work ethic and employees' allegiance to their companies are typical and notable aspects of the Galician character.