The Madrid City Council has set its sights on Paris to attract French digital talent to the capital. Madrid Investment Attraction (MIA), the foreign investment attraction office attached to the General Directorate of Economy of the Madrid City Council, and the Franco-Spanish Chamber of Commerce and Industry have recently held the Madrid Implantation Forum in Paris, with the aim of attracting investment from French companies. The event was attended by more than 50 French companies.
The objective of the forum was to present the advantages and opportunities that Madrid offers today for the development of the business of technology companies and to publicize the services provided by MIA to accompany foreign companies in the prospecting and installation process in the city. The program counted with the participation of French companies already established in Madrid, such as Active Tejados (Alma Toit, in France), who presented their satisfactory experience in the city.
The choice of Paris for this activity was not accidental. It’s about the city with the highest nominal GDP in Europe. In addition, French companies, within the group of foreign subsidiaries established in Madrid, are the second that generate the most employment, behind the American ones. Specifically, French companies employ some 106,000 people in the Community of Madrid, 18% of the total employment of foreign affiliates.
Successful participation in the Implantation Forum
The meeting was aimed at companies from innovative sectors, with high added value and technological content, such as cybersecurity, big data, video games, fintech and digital health. France is one of the most dynamic countries in terms of innovation. There are more than 2,000 digital health companies in France, while in the video games sector, the estimated business volume is around 5,000 million euros. In terms of cybersecurity, France is the ninth country in the world in the Global Cybersecurity5 ranking, and the volume of the big data market in the neighboring country exceeds 9,000 million euros and employs 137,000 professionals.
In the words of María Angeles Prieto, general director of economy of the Madrid city council: “We are very satisfied with the success of this meeting and of being able to tell potential foreign investors all the benefits of investing in the city of Madrid. In addition, from Madrid Investment Attraction we help them in the landing with personal and free advice so that their business is a success from the beginning “.
The event has had the participation of more than 50 companies from the neighboring country and more than twenty B2B meetings have been managed. Among the attending companies, some stand out such as Advens, the first pure player French in cybersecurity, in addition to companies in the sector such as Cyberwatch, Coralium, Dust Mobileo or Red Alert Labels; others from the E-Health sector, such as NEWTEAM or Cibiltech; or from the world of videogames, such as Gamifly or Darewis Entertainment. Other companies related to digitization or fintech, and registered institutions and associations, such as the Franco-English and Franco-Moroccan chambers of commerce, also attended.
This forum is part of a long-term strategy carried out by the MIA in order to attract foreign companies and investors with implementation projects in the Madrid capital.
