The Diplomat
King Philip VI and the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, yesterday presided over the commemorative ceremony for the 40th anniversary of the founding of ICEX Spain Export and Investment, the body of the State Secretary for Trade in charge of contributing to the competitiveness of the Spanish economy through internationalization.
“ICEX has played a very important role in the process of opening up Spain that has made us the country we are: open, dynamic and with an eye on the future of our companies,” said the King during the closing ceremony, held at the headquarters of the institution under the slogan Thinking the future.
To speak of ICEX is “to speak of important memories in various stages of my life”, such as “those fairs called Expotecnias, Expohábitats or Expoconsumos, in Morocco, Brazil, India, Mexico, Russia, Japan, China or Turkey”, or his participation in the “25th anniversary, in the launch of Plan USA, in New York, and in emblematic programs such as Exporta“, he continued.
“We have shared many moments together, many experiences accompanying and supporting the foreign projection of our companies and, in general, of the Spanish economy,” he said. “I am sure that ICEX will continue to evolve, to grow, to fulfill its mission, always with a continuous and necessary capacity to adapt,” he added.
The event, which was inaugurated by the State Secretary for Trade and President of ICEX, Xiana Méndez, was divided into two panels: the first, From yesterday to today: milestones and trajectory, focused on the experience of former ICEX managers; and the second, ICEX in the next 20 years, brought together representatives of several companies, who shared their experience in internationalization. In addition, ICEX’s CEO, María Peña, outlined the institution’s roadmap for the coming years.
ICEX’s mission is to contribute to the competitiveness of the Spanish economy through internationalization. Throughout these 40 years, ICEX has varied its catalog of programs and services and has bet on new sectors, new types of companies and new internationalization tools, such as sustainability and digitalization. In addition, in the last decade, ICEX has expanded its mandate, which initially was only support for internationalization and now includes attracting foreign investment and training for internationalization. In addition, some ICEX programs that were pioneers in their day have been consolidated over time, as is the case of the ICEX Internationalization Scholarship program, one of the most recognized and valued by companies today.
ICEX has focused its efforts on supporting the competitiveness of Spanish companies in the two factors that can guarantee their success in foreign markets: differentiation and resilience. To support the differentiation of companies, ICEX has launched programs aimed at promoting branding, innovation and technology, such as the eMarket Services program, which is committed to agreements with multi-product and specialized e-commerce platforms. It also promotes the brand abroad, both for sectors of activity and individual companies. ICEX is committed to sectors with a higher technological and innovative content, with programs such as Desafía in Silicon Valley or Israel, as well as new activities in the aerospace, electric vehicles and foodtech sectors.
In addition, and in order to strengthen the resilience of the company, programs such as ICEX Next, aimed at comprehensive counseling, Cre100do, company growth, and promotional activities to maintain and consolidate the presence of Spanish companies and brands in new international markets, such as trade fairs, technical seminars and business missions, stand out.
