While Catalonia, Valencia, and Madrid are currently the leading exporting regions, Aragon is not far behind. With over €4.000 billion in exports from January to October 2002, the automotive sector remains the most dynamic in this area.
Catalonia, the Valencian Community, Madrid, the Basque Country, Andalusia, Galicia, Castile and León, and in eighth place, Aragon, rank highest in exports. The Aragonese Community sold products abroad worth 4.724 billion euros during the first nine months of 2002, with the automotive sector being among the most in-demand products.
France is the main destination for exports; in this regard, the Chambers of Commerce indicate that these reached €20.892 billion, representing 19,2% of total Spanish sales. Germany, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and Italy follow as priority destinations.
There are numerous programs in place to support international expansion and investment. Aragonese businesses have access to several initiatives, including the Investment Project Support Program (PAPI), which offers financial support for establishing, expanding, or diversifying operations abroad, and the Foreign Implementation Plan, a commercial program that facilitates the creation of subsidiaries or branches. Furthermore, agreements with entities such as the Official Credit Institute (ICO) provide access to long-term loans, while agreements with CESCE and COFIDES minimize or even eliminate the risk of default.
Essential for achieving maximum efficiency and profitability in international markets is gaining firsthand knowledge of the target countries. To this end, various trade missions are organized, in the case of Aragon, promoted by the Chambers of Commerce. Specifically, the Zaragoza Chamber of Commerce has prepared a total of 17 missions for 2003. It is worth noting that each year more than 1.000 companies are interested in these types of activities, and more than 3.000 inquiries related to foreign trade are handled.
The 2003 program focuses on closer ties with Eastern European countries, with missions to the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Russia; a new follow-up plan for small and medium-sized enterprises that participated in previous years in the Program for Initiation into Foreign Promotion (PIPE); and the participation of the Zaragoza Chamber of Commerce in three new community initiatives:
– INTERREG II-A: Cross-border Cooperation Forum in collaboration with the Toulouse Chamber of Commerce (France).
– ATLAS: Implementation of a new service that will assist SMEs in their international cooperation processes, in collaboration with the Toulouse Chamber of Commerce, the Uruguayan Chamber of Industry and the Catalan Institute of Technology.
– AL-INVEST: Sectoral meeting on European health policy and technological adaptation of fruit and vegetable processing, to be held in Toulouse and in which the Navarra Chamber of Commerce collaborates.
In 2002, the trade missions organized by the Zaragoza Chamber of Commerce and Industry involved 190 companies, which held a total of 1.410 meetings. The most successful trips were those to Tunisia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Mexico, and China.
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