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Reasons to invest

1 Competitiveness hub

The Basque Country/Euskadi has a solid industrial base, with industry that represents more than 24% of GDP, thereby making it an attractive competitiveness hub committed to Industry 4.0.

Currently, considering the new advancements behind the fourth industrial revolution, a shared vision of industrial development has, in every respect, fostered a competitive industrial ecosystem. Faced with this new scenario, the Basque Country/Euskadi has directed its efforts toward smart specialization, identifying those areas in which to focus its human and financial RD&I resources. The three areas considered to be strategic are: advanced manufacturing 4.0, energy, and biohealth.

Basque Industry 4.0

The advanced manufacturing strategy, Basque Industry 4.0, sets the stage for developing the factory of the future in the Basque Country. This is a commitment to integrating intelligence in production methods and systems; using technological capability to develop new products and processes; and to incorporating advanced material solutions with higher added-value and improved processes, etc. 

2 Technology, innovation and future

The hallmark of the Basque Country/Euskadi is its commitment to innovation, which has earned it recognition and resources at the European level. In addition to being the autonomous region that allocates the highest percentage of its GDP to R&D - 1.88% –, its scientific, technological, and business capabilities have placed the region among the most innovative in Europe.

Euskadi is currently involved in the 2020 Science, Technology and Innovation Plan to improve welfare, sustainable economic growth and employment in Basque society through a research and innovation policy based on smart specialization and the improvement of the Science, Technology and Innovation system, adapted to the European Horizon 2020 program.       

 

3 Talent

Higher education

48.9% of the population between 30 and 34 years of age have a higher education, exceeding the European Union average (37.9%) and that of Spain (42.3%). With a publicly funded university attended by eight out of every ten students, three private universities, nearly 100 vocational training centers, five international schools, more than a dozen official language schools, the world's first gastronomic university (Basque Culinary Center), Digipen (Institute of Technology Europe Bilbao) and the Machine Tool Institute (IMH), the Basque Country/Euskadi is the autonomous region that has the most educational technology in its classrooms.

 

Vocational training

In the Basque Country/Euskadi, where economic activity revolves around industry, vocational education is key in preparing and training the people who are going to enter the labor market. 65% of the jobs in Basque companies require a vocational training certificate, 70% when it comes to the industrial sector. Vocational training in the Basque Country is committed to innovation in education, methodologies, and even in the type of classrooms, centers, and VET that supports SMEs.

4 A well-connected region

The Autonomous Basque Community is strategically located in the center of the European Atlantic axis. As a corridor between peninsula markets and the rest of Europe, this region is the nucleus of an area of influence.

Its location and network of first-rate logistic and transport infrastructures, totally coordinated and interconnected with each other and the major European networks, makes the Basque Country/Euskadi an important multimodal logistics platform for the transport of goods and people in southwest Europe. As a logistics hub on the European Atlantic axis, it is the gateway to Europe and the rest of the world, especially Latin America, where there are numerous Basque companies and institutions.

The FDI report published by the British Financial Times Group ranked the Basque Country/Euskadi as best medium-sized region in Europe for connectivity (logistics) and as sixth, with the best strategy for attracting foreign investment. Furthermore, it ranks fifth best region in Southern Europe in all investment attraction indicators as a whole.

5 Tax and financial autonomy

The Basque Country/Euskadi has regulatory and management capability thanks to its own financial system. The region enjoys a high level of self-governance in such important matters as health, education, security, housing, and the Treasury, in accordance with the Statute of Gernika, a fundamental mainstay of its autonomy.

Another essential pillar of Basque self-governance is the "Economic Agreement", the financial support from the Autonomous Community that grants Basque institutions autonomy to collect and administer  taxes from citizens based on its own budgets and the agreements signed with Spain's central government.  All of this has allowed for the creation of regional organizations like Basque Radio Television (EITB); Ertzaintza, the autonomous police force with over 7,000 officers; and complete authority over road and hydraulic infrastructures, economic and industrial development, and land-use planning and development.

6 Quality of life

The Basque Country/Euskadi is unique in social, economic, industrial, and cultural aspects. It is one of the most attractive places to live and invest, with

steady social and economic development, pursuit of excellence, transformation of cities, international expansion of its companies, and the firm commitment to innovation and being one of the best regions in the world. According to data compiled by Eustat, using the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) methodology, the Human Development Index (HDI) for the autonomous region of Basque Country/Euskadi ranks Basque society among the most developed on the planet. With an HDI of 0.922, it places eighth in the world.