Barcelona stands out as one of the favorite cities for international companies to establish and expand. So much so that, according to the Global Cities Investment Monitor 2024, the Catalan capital has managed to become the first European city in attracting foreign investment, as well as the second globally, only behind the distant Indian city of Bangalore. To consolidate and strengthen this ecosystem, the city wants to go a step further and not only support and accompany companies that are already planning to settle in the Catalan capital, but even proactively seek out potential candidate companies looking for locations in which to grow.
An ambitious goal that the city will address through the Barcelona Investment Office, an entity born from public-private collaboration with the aim of coordinating efforts to attract strategic international projects for the city's economy. An entity that, after months of defining itself and establishing its roadmap, is now underway with the aim of consolidating the city's international prestige.
This new technical office is made up of both public administrations and private institutions, such as the City Council, the Generalitat, the Diputación or the Metropolitan Area (AMB), the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, Fira de Barcelona, the Port of Barcelona, the Zona Franca Consortium and Barcelona Global. These agents will meet and coordinate through the new Barcelona Investment Project Attraction Council, a mechanism that will X-ray the ecosystem and seek to detect possible candidates to settle in the city.
"The step we are taking today is important to work together towards a common goal," remarked the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, who emphasized that the aim is to attract "a certain type of foreign investment and job creation, as well as a certain type of urban economy, betting on reindustrialization and the value economy."
Through this new technical office, which will act as a gateway for multiple international projects, the aim is to offer comprehensive support to companies and corporations wishing to settle in the city. To do so, all different areas will be covered: from the promotion of the city through international trips, the accompaniment and support of companies already planning to establish themselves in Barcelona, to helping the employees of these companies settle in, through the Barcelona International Welcome Desk, helping them in a personalized way. And even accompanying them once they have settled, encouraging reinvestments.
The objective is clear: to consolidate the recognition that Barcelona enjoys globally and even go a step further. The path to follow, in fact, is marked by the good results of the last year and a half, in which the Catalan capital has attracted investments worth 837 million euros through 56 new projects, which have generated more than 2,200 jobs.
Of these new projects, most were companies in the technology sector (28%), industrial (22%) or distribution, logistics and transport (13%). These are sectors in which the city will focus, in addition to creative industries, the blue economy or life sciences. Among the investments, cases such as Astrazeneca ---which is in the process of settling in the reopened Estel building---, Lumo Lab, Wanhua Chemical Europe or Sanofi stand out.
Chinese companies have been the ones that have invested the most in recent months, with 25% of the total foreign investment attracted, followed by European countries such as the United Kingdom (16%) or Germany (9%), and the United States. In fact, the goal is for these figures to grow in the coming years, and for now the city is on the right track: in the first half of this year alone, 24 out of 109 possible projects have landed, creating more than 960 jobs. A trajectory that will now be consolidated through the newly launched Barcelona Investment Office.