Dynamic and prosperous economy
The autonomous community of Madrid is chosen by foreign businesses because it has an economy under constant expansion that offers a large number of business opportunities. The economy of Madrid has grown by 3.9% over the last 10 years. It also accounts for more than 18% of the Spanish economy in terms of its GDP.
With a population of more than 6 million people and an average per-capita income of more than €33,000, Madrid is the third-ranking European region in terms of purchasing power. As a result, it is an ideal marketplace for new business projects.
International business decision center
Madrid is the political and business capital of Spain. It is also the country's financial and economic center. The community has the highest number of businesses in Spain (more than 500,000 companies in operation). One out of every five businesses created in Spain is based in the city of Madrid. Of the top 2000 Spanish businesses, 72% are based in Madrid and around 4% of the Latin American GDP corresponds to Madrid enterprises.
In order to be near their customers' decision centers and to make use of a network of business services and technological and communication infrastructures that allow the efficient management of their businesses, foreign companies set up their operations for Spain in Madrid. This is shown by the fact that 82% of the direct foreign investment received by Spain in 2008 chose Madrid as its destination.
Open-minded, highly qualified human resources
Madrid has flexible, qualified professionals available at competitive costs as far as Western Europe is concerned. Our workers stand out thanks to their training and capacity for adapting, as well as their creativity.
The community's higher education training network comprises 16 universities (7 public and 9 private), which supply businesses with around 40,000 graduates a year. Madrid has the highest number of students in Spain and one of the highest in Europe.
Madrid is the city in which some of the most prestigious business schools in the world, such as Instituto de Empresa, ESADE, IESE, EOI, CEF, ESIC, IEGE and IEB, offer their training courses.
Excellent geo-strategic location
The autonomous community of Madrid is an excellent centre for controlling the Iberian markets (Spain and Portugal), as well as those of Europe and North Africa. These regions have a high consumer potential and are under continuous expansion. Madrid offers easy access to a potential market of 1300 million people: EU (500 million), Mediterranean (450 million) and Latin America (600 million).
Madrid also stands out as a preferred location in Europe for doing business with Latin America and for managing the business of Latin American enterprises in Europe.
Madrid is the centre of the rail and road system that connects the entire Iberian peninsula on land and the península to the rest of Europe.
Barajas stands only 12 km from the capital and is well connected by underground train and is the largest Spanish airport in terms of cargo and passenger transit (fourth-ranking in Europe in terms of passengers, with a capacity for processing up to 70 million passengers and a current traffic level of 50 million). Barajas is also Europe's hub for Latin America, since it handles approximately one third of the direct flights between both regions.
Madrid is home to the first inland customs seaport in Europe (the dry port de Coslada), which enables the distribution of goods with the main seaports on the Iberian Peninsula. Thanks to intermodal transport, many logistics companies in Spain have situated their operations in Madrid and currently account for more than 80% of the national turnover.
Leading scientific and technological development center
Madrid leads the field of scientific research and technological innovation in Spain and it is the third-ranking region of Europe as far as the number of workers in the hi-tech sector is concerned (Eurostat, 2006). It is also the Spanish region that invests most in R and D (29% of the total).
The region's 16 universities work in close collaboration with the world of business and scientific research.
The region also has an excellent network of science and technology parks, called the Madrid Network (www.madridnetwork.org), comprising 11 sectoral clusters and 6 technology parks, together with a network of research institutes (www.imdea.org) that currently has eight members.
Provider of services of excellence and with a consolidated industrial sector
The autonomous community of Madrid is a centre of excellence for the provision of services. Since the reign of Philip II in the 16th century, Madrid has provided services to other Spanish regions and to other countries. Today, these traditional functions of the region have spread and it has become an important centre for international service providers.
Madrid's main economic sector is services, which generates almost 80% of the regional GDP. The autonomous community of Madrid is also the first in Spain in terms of the number of professionals that work in this sector: 2.4 million employees (17% of the national total). This means better access to professional services in terms of availability and prices.
Madrid has been recognised for its excellence in services in renewable energies, as well as in retail and distribution, aerospace and aeronautical, tourist and professional services. In particular, these include the financial and banking sectors, legal sectors and those related to advertising and marketing, consultancy services, cleaning and security.
Madrid- Unique quality of life
Madrid not only offers excellent opportunities for investment and professional training and development; it also offers a world that is yet to be discovered. The quality of life in Madrid is unique, since it has an international education system that begins at primary school (there are more than 35 international schools and almost 200 public schools that use English as a language in the classroom), a universal health system and safety indexes that are among the highest in Europe. The region also has a great number of options for leisure, cultural, sports and outdoor activities for all ages. Several towns in the region have been designated as world heritage sites and it has some of the best art collections in the world. The gastronomy on offer is also surprising and can be enjoyed in a large number of elegant and traditional bars and restaurants.
Many have already discovered Madrid (more than 17% of the population is foreign) and Spain and Madrid hold excellent positions on the various rankings on the quality of life and preferred places for living and working (Cushman Wakefield, Financial Times/Harris, Monocle, Forbes, etc.). Those who live in Madrid point out that it is a region in which it is possible to reconcile their personal and professional lives.
Por gentileza de:
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Dynamic newspaper in a dynamic city
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