Catalonia participates in Choose Europe, an alliance of 14 cities and regions to position Europe as the ideal location for foreign investment

• The mission of Choose Europe is to join forces to drive investment leadership and support sustainable growth in the participating regions.

• Through Catalonia Trade & Investment, Catalonia is the only region in Spain among the 14 cities, regions and metropolitan areas that promote Choose Europe.

• The project, launched today in Helsinki, will initially target North America and will focus on digital channels and physical events taking place in European cities, such as Web Summit and MIPIM.

Catalonia is one of the driving regions of Choose Europe, the first European alliance of 14 cities and regions that aims to position Europe as the ideal location for foreign investment.

Through Catalonia Trade & Investment, Catalonia is the only region in Spain among the 14 cities, regions and metropolitan areas that promote Choose Europe. The promoting regions are launching a unique cooperation to safeguard the shared European economic value model and to support sustainable growth in their regions.

The Choose Europe campaign was launched today in Helsinki, with representatives of the 14 cities, regions and metropolitan areas.

Apart from Catalonia, the network currently includes the metropolitan cities and regions of Amsterdam, Bavaria, Berlin, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Helsinki, Lyon, Paris, Riga, Stockholm, Vienna, Warsaw and Zurich.

Investment promotion agencies in these European cities and regions have been collaborating over the past years to improve their best practices and share a collective path for responsible development on the European continent.

The public agencies have chosen to join forces in the competitive field of attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), be it green field and relocation projects or talents, believing that shared success positively benefits the entire European region.

Emphasizing common values and differentiating specific assets to strengthen a prosperous European economic model is the objective of this informal group that is committed to long-term cooperation.

This collaboration has shared European values at its core: a human-centered model contributing to stability, sustainability and prosperity. It is the first time in the field of foreign direct investment that competitors have joined forces for the greater good.

The campaign will initially target North America and will focus on digital channels and several physical events taking place in European cities, such as Web Summit and MIPIM. This project marks the beginning of a long-term collaboration between the participants.

According to the CEO of Catalonia Trade & Investment, Natàlia Mas: "We compete with the other agencies to attract foreign investment with high added value, but we share with them the need to strengthen the role of Europe as the safeguard of an economic model based on sustainable growth and social prosperity".

Mas added: "This cooperation will also contribute to guaranteeing European technological sovereignty in a global context where it is more necessary than ever".

Attracting foreign investment in Catalonia

Catalonia Trade & Investment is the agency responsible for attracting foreign investment from the Government of Catalonia. Its work focuses on attracting industrial and technological projects with high added value and a commitment to sustainability.

In 2021, Catalonia Trade & Investment attracted 612 million euros of foreign investment, the highest figure in the historical series, which begins in 1985. In total, 82 foreign investment projects were executed (+7% compared to 2020) which resulted in the creation of 3,211 jobs and the maintenance of 2,471 additional jobs.

Likewise, 2 out of every 3 euros of foreign investment went to industrial projects, with investments coming mainly from the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Japan and China.