I/ Current status of FDI attraction in Spain
Spain has had an impressive decade in attracting FDI, affirming its position as an attractive destination on the global investment map. The country has shown its steadfastness in opening up to the world, promoting multilateralism and internationalizing the economy. Current policies maintain the integration roadmap with the European Union (EU) guided by the spirit of multilateralism and focusing on a globalized economy.
Spain's economic model stands out for its balance and harmonious growth. This is an important highlight and also a driving force for the Government to continue implementing plans in 2025. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Spain is in the top 10 developed countries with the highest openness to FDI. Investment protection regulations issued since 2020 have not reduced the attractiveness of this country, but on the contrary, have helped maintain stable international capital flows. This shows that Spain has achieved a reasonable balance between protecting national interests and encouraging investment.
A clear demonstration is the outstanding performance of greenfield projects - projects that build new facilities and create jobs with high economic value. According to data from FDI Markets of the Financial Times Group, in the first 11 months of 2024, Spain ranked 5th in the world in terms of the number of greenfield projects with 682 projects, attracting nearly 33 billion Euros and creating more than 60,000 jobs. These figures reflect the strong attraction and great potential of the Spanish economy in promoting sustainable initiatives.
To maintain the positive trend, efforts to attract, consolidate and retain foreign investors are being stepped up to increase value and enhance the country’s strategic position. The Spanish Prime Minister recently announced plans to establish a “Strategic Investment Committee” to guide investment priorities, promote digitalization and accelerate projects with high impact. This is considered an important step to ensure that FDI brings real results.
Attracting foreign investment continues to be a key strategy for 2025. Spain is asserting itself as an ideal business environment with a strong and internationally-oriented local business ecosystem. Spanish companies are leading in many sectors and markets, and the country owns industrial clusters that fully meet the needs of foreign investors from supply to infrastructure.
Notably, electricity costs - an important factor for investors - have improved significantly according to recent assessments. These results are discussed in detail in the 17th Business Climate Index Report, where representatives from multinational corporations can compare the reality of operating in Spain and propose optimization solutions.
Deeper integration into the global economy through trade and investment is enhancing the competitiveness of businesses, benefiting people and promoting sustainable economic growth. These achievements are a source of motivation for Spain to continue its development journey.
II/ Assessment of FDI attraction situation in Spain
The 17th edition of the Doing Business Index, produced by ICEX, the Association of Multinational Companies in Spain and the International Competitiveness Center (ICC) of IESE, represents the assessment of more than 700 foreign-invested companies of the business investment environment in Spain.
The report shows that foreign companies operating in Spain are still maintaining a positive outlook for investment, revenue, employment and export volume for 2025, specifically: the number of businesses expected to increase or maintain the categories: revenue, investment, employment and export increase compared to the previous year, respectively 12%, 3%, 7% and 6% according to the respective categories. Accordingly, 89% of companies operating here expect to increase or maintain investment in 2025 despite the complex international context. In addition, in terms of revenue prospects, the proportion of businesses expected to maintain or increase revenue this year will increase to 87% compared to 78% last year.
- On export potential: There is also great potential for foreign companies to sell abroad, with 74% of companies surveyed exporting from Spain to other markets. An estimated 92% of exporters expect sales to third countries to increase or remain stable this year.
- On employment forecasts: this is slightly higher than in 2024, with 92% of investment firms expecting headcount to increase or remain the same in 2025, up seven percentage points from the same forecast in 2024.
Overall, companies confirmed a positive assessment of the business environment in 2024 despite the impact of the uncertain international economic and political situation. The business environment received a positive assessment from CEOs of foreign-invested companies.
The areas most highly rated by foreign investors are related to infrastructure, followed by market size and human resources, with the availability of skilled labor and the ability to learn being highly valued. Reasons for particularly high ratings are Spain's geographical location, the size of the domestic market and access to other markets.
- On areas with room for improvement: The report points to tax and fiscal aspects, as well as regulatory environment issues such as reducing administrative burdens and costs (mainly electricity costs) although these costs have improved compared to previous years.
- On environmental objectives: as in the previous version, the Report has added an analysis of the sustainability objectives of foreign companies in Spain, considering that the commitment to sustainable development as defined in the United Nations 2030 Agenda is a priority not only for the public sector but also for a growing number of private enterprises.
According to the Report, Spain has provided foreign companies with many favorable factors for the development of sustainable strategies, notably consumer and social awareness, especially among employees themselves. Responsible behavior by suppliers and customers is also a factor contributing to the good development of these strategies.
Source: https://moit.gov.vn/tin-tuc/thi-truong-nuoc-ngoai/tinh-hinh-thu-hut-dau-tu-nuoc-ngoai-tai-tay-ban-nha-thuc-trang-va-danh-gia.html
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