Galicia: Industry, Trade and R&D. Competitiveness and internationalization define Galicia's industrial policy

The Galician Regional Ministry of Industry, Trade and Innovation highlights the extraordinary increase in Galician exports over the last decade. It also emphasizes its commitment to modernization and internationalization in the industrial sector.

The 1990s were a pivotal decade for consolidating and increasing the presence of Galician companies abroad. Galician exports rose from €1.608 billion in 1990 to over €9.496 billion in 2002, representing an increase of more than 490%. Similarly, this high growth rate led to an increase in the percentage share of Galician exports in total national exports, which reached 7,26% in 2002.

This upward trend, recorded especially during 2001, has declined slightly during 2002, due to the uncertainty of the international landscape.

Automotive, fishing, ornamental stone, textiles, canning, and shipbuilding are some of the sectors showing the greatest dynamism in consolidating their positions in international markets. Although 80% of Galician exports are concentrated in European countries, the increased presence in South America, especially in Mercosur, is noteworthy.

Industry

Immersed in a process of technological modernization, the Galician industry has set itself the objectives of competitiveness and internationalization.

The contribution of the Xunta de Galicia to this process has resulted in different lines of aid, which promote research, technological innovation and business quality, in addition to the creation in the last decade of several sectoral technology centers to boost and support companies.

The existence of specific industrial hubs linked by a production process led the Galician regional government (Xunta de Galicia) to propose a plan to strengthen business clusters. The economic results of these clusters have been very positive, increasing their revenue, exports, and employment.

These satisfactory results have been demonstrated in the automotive, shipbuilding, timber, textile, mining, and aerospace sectors.