Making Extremadura the gateway for Chinese investors to Europe is the objective set by the Government of Extremadura during the direct trade mission that took place during the month of October . The results were very positive: the installation of a permanent branch in Shanghai and the signing of two new confidentiality agreements with two companies to advance their business plans.
“We are not waiting for investors to come, but rather let’s go get them in response to the commitment of the government of María Guardiola to attract investments”, this is what the Minister of Economy, Employment and Digital Transformation, Guillermo Santamaría, spoke about the direct trade mission to China which took place recently and in which They traveled more than 30,000 km.
One of the main aspects highlighted by the advisor is the permanent antennaan office which will be established in Beijing and Shanghai, declared having already launched a call for tenders and “having relied on a company” to maintain contact with investors, organize events and be present in China.
During these days, the Extremadura delegation carried out 25 meetings in person, 17 entity visits, 5 with institutions and 15 with different companies, and also invited 52 entities to the II Electric Vehicle Forum. Among these companies, Santamaría highlights that they have a business volume greater than 26,436 million euros.
From all these meetings, the Government of Extremadura signed two confidentiality agreements with two companies to be established in the region. One of them, HIV is dedicated to the waste-free reuse of solar panels. Extremadura, with a production of 9,167 GWH, is a leader in the production of photovoltaic energy, which makes it a “commercial opportunity” for this company, highlighted the advisor, to get an idea of the volume of business that ‘it will generate. just look at the 18 million solar panels already installed and the forecast to install 30 million more. This company has chosen to establish itself on the logistics platform of southwestern Europe located in Badajoz.
The second company they signed a confidentiality agreement with is LUM which is dedicated to manufacturing electric bicycles and chargers. Regarding this agreement, Santamaría highlighted that Extremadura competes with Germany but that the company itself emphasized that “they find more facilities in Extremadura” and therefore finally opted for this region and soon “they will come and choose the land”.
Cathode factory in Mérida
It is worth recalling that the Government of Extremadura and the Chinese company Hunan Yuneng New Energy Battery Material signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in order to promote and advance the development of a materials design and production plant cathodic (lithium iron phosphate) for electric batteries in Mérida. This investment would mean an investment of 800 million euros and the creation of 500 direct jobs. Regarding this investment, the advisor stressed that In the coming weeks, they will come to the region to make the land reservation effective. and begin construction in 2025.
Santamaría also dispelled doubts about the commissioning of the railway station of this industrial zone, planned for next March, it will therefore not hinder the projects of this company, which plans to invest 800 million euros and the creation of 500 direct jobs.
The advisor highlighted trust as a key element in attracting Chinese companies. Thus, he said that visiting their facilities allowed them to “strengthen the relationship.”
In this regard, he explained that the Chinese “are people who place a high value on trust and the fact that we went there was absolutely decisive”, which allowed us to “build stronger relationships” generated during the first electric vehicle congress, which “ultimately it creates fertile ground in China that can be trusted in Extremadura, and that can be invested in Extremadura.”
Car manufacturer NIO
Extremadura’s “value proposition” was also presented to 15 large companies of the size of the car manufacturer NIO, as part of this trip in which Extremadura went “looking for investors”, in response to the “commitment” of the Regional Executive to attract investments, the budget of which has been doubled.
In this regard, he stressed that NIO “experiencing exponential growth”with “spectacular figures”, and although it already has “several delegations”, it still does not have a factory on the old continent, so it is “very reasonable” that it soon decides to launch into Europe.
“What we want is that when you decide, you take us into account,” said Santamaría, who highlighted the size of this company. “If a manufacturer of this type came, we would change region” he said.
Hydrogen sector
On the other hand, it has also opted for companies in the hydrogen sector, which is “absolutely strategic” for Extremadura, because the hydroduct What Europe has planned “crosses” Extremadura from north to south, so it is necessary to position the region to obtain the arrival of companies that generate and consume this fuel.
On the one hand, the facilities in Mongolia of Envision Energy were visited, which will be “the most modern hydrogen plant in the world”, as well as China Power Energy, which is “an electricity giant” who, according to the advisor, “have taken into account Extremadura as “a serious candidate for the establishment of factories”.
So, and although it is still “very nascent”, they loved the “value proposition of Extremadura” because “they have sun, they have land, they have the best conditions for aid European, they’re going to have talent, they’re going to have water.”
“All this has been abundant, in a place where “there is a lot of space and where they will have the maximum government facilities”, which is why they are “taking into account Extremadura as a future place to install a hydrogen power plant. “generation business” “We made them aware of the possibilities of Extremadura and they liked it very much”, emphasized the advisor.
Training and talent attraction
One of the needs of this type of technology companies is skilled labor, which is why the Council is considering increasing the current training plans. During this first year, more than a thousand people are trained in digital profiles, but a more “ambitious” plan is already underway.
The Ministry of Economy, Economy, Employment and Digital Transformation, as well as that of Education, Science and Vocational Training, come together with the University of Extremadura to “try to triple digital graduates in two or three years” and to double those in industrial engineering.
“Where there are digital talents, the gross domestic product increases and people’s quality of life increases and more jobs and more wealth are generated,” said Santamaría, who added that the lack of digital talent qualified work is “a European problem”. which loses “one million digital workers per year”. “It’s a gap that we all have and we will need a lot more talent than we currently have,” he warned.
