Last Friday, the VI Forum of Foreign Capital Companies of Castilla La-Mancha was held in Puy du Fou with the aim of consolidating the value proposition of the region to remain the national industrial epicenter.
The meeting was inaugurated by the Minister of Economy, Business and Employment of CLM, Patricia Franco, the Director of IPEX, Luis Noé, and the CEO of Puy du Fou Spain, Erwan de la Villéon. The Minister stressed that this meeting has sought to show “all the business network that wants to invest again and do it in our land how the Government can accompany in all phases, from management to consolidation and reinvestment”.
This VI edition of the Business Forum brought together close to 100 attendees, representing the main foreign capital companies present in the region, who participated in a very interesting day with presentations related to the challenges facing our region.
The forum began with the participation of Erwan de la Villéon, CEO of Puy Du Fou Spain, who highlighted the work of the regional government: “It has taken us a short time to carry out the project thanks to the private and public collaboration to make it happen. The regional government of CLM has been in charge of directing and channeling the project to get it up and running more quickly.” He also confirmed that they will continue to invest in the region in the coming years.
The Minister of Economy, Business and Employment, Patricia Franco, has supported Puy Du Fou’s investment in the region: “Puy du Fou is a model to follow in the whole process of management, consolidation and future investments and reinvestments to continue attracting international investment in our region”.
The counselor presented the great evolution of investment figures in the region: “In the first half of 2021, foreign direct investment in our region has reached 148 million euros, growing by 225 percent in that period” has remarked Patricia Franco, who has valued that investment in fixed stock, in its last consolidated data, exceeded 6,374 million euros in 2019. “When we came to the Government, that figure was around 3,367 million euros, which represents an increase of 89 percent, almost 3,000 million euros more, which we want to continue to consolidate,” said the Minister of Economy, Business and Employment.
He then went on to present the new campaign to promote the region as a premium destination for foreign investment through Invest in CLM. “We want to strengthen the positioning of the region as a differentiated investment destination, attract and facilitate the establishment of new companies in Castilla-La Mancha, enrich the investment climate and maintain and expand existing investments,” said the Minister as priority objectives of the new campaign, ending with the presentation of the new video produced for the promotion of Castilla-La Mancha as an investment destination.
Afterwards, it was the turn of Jesús Moreno López-Solórzano, Territorial Director of Adecco, who made a presentation on training and recruitment in CLM, analyzing the key employment issues for the coming years as well as the competitive advantages of Castilla-La Mancha, highlighting the excellent training, both technical and theoretical, received by university and vocational training students in the region.
This was followed by a round table discussion, with the theme: “EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING SUPPORT PROGRAMS“.
Representatives from different companies, such as LafargeHolcim, Mahle, NTT Data and Puy du Fou, took part in the round table, moderated by the Deputy Minister of Employment, Social Dialogue and Labor Welfare, Nuria Berta Chust.
Nuria Chust, moderator of the debate, commented that ”the regional government has wide and attractive employment and recruitment programs for people looking for a job, and for companies in their investment process in the region, providing the necessary support at all times”. The deputy minister launched, among others, the question to the representatives of the companies about aspects of improvement in the regional administration in terms of employment.
Isidoro Miranda Fernandez, CEO of Lafargeholcim España, commented that it is necessary to “promote the exchange between universities and companies” in order to continue training people and improving languages”.
For her part, Míriam Ruiz Gómez, Deputy HR Manager at Puy Du Fou Spain, explained that ”there are very long procedures, which become tedious, and immediacy is one of the characteristics that defines us”. She also pointed out that they have been accompanied at all times by the regional government, obtaining a response in terms of training and employment.
Maria J. Hortelano, from Mahle’s Personal Development and Recruitment Department, stated that it would be a great idea to ”create some kind of synergy with the counseling to form a training center and be a pioneer center to develop people depending on their needs”.
In turn, Miguel Angel Hernandez Bajo, Director of CyL & CLM of NTT DATA, pointed out that ”we must continue working in the field of dissemination. The Administration has a fundamental role and a privileged situation for the dissemination of the value offer we have in the region”.
And to round off the day, the VI BAROMETER OF THE BUSINESS CLIMATE AND FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN CASTILLA-LA MANCHA was presented by Javier Rosell, General Director of Companies, who described the good prospects for 2022 and the investment projects planned for the coming year.
According to the barometer and according to the companies surveyed, 92% of these companies expect to increase or maintain their workforce for the next year and 2 out of 3 companies expect to increase their turnover by 2022.
Another of its conclusions is that foreign companies are committed to Castilla-La Mancha, since almost half of those surveyed have reinvestment projects in our region. The priority of the companies planning to invest in CLM is to increase the productive capacity of their businesses.
One of the most outstanding points of this sixth barometer is the knowledge of the aids offered by the regional government. Javier Rosell pointed out that this figure has improved with respect to the previous year, since 73% of the companies are aware of these aids and 51% have used them.
On the other hand, the most valued business climate factors in the region are quality of life, safety and real estate costs.
After the presentation of the Barometer and to close this VI Forum, the attendees posed for a joint photo, followed by a cocktail where they were able to exchange impressions and network.
