Madrid, the 8th of February, 2019.- The Spanish Development Finance Institution (COFIDES S.A., S.M.E.) took part in the IMEX Madrid international business and foreign trade fair, which was held at the Palacio de Cibeles on the 6th and 7th of February. To present their business to people and entities interested in foreign business abroad, the team from COFIDES’ Commercial and Business Development Division held numerous interviews giving information regarding the features of the company's financing instruments, as well as the various markets in which it has experience.

COFIDES was also involved in IMEX Madrid’s official opening. In his presentation, the COFIDES chairman and CEO, José Luis Curbelo, highlighted “the value provided by the company over its 30 years working towards the internationalisation of Spanish companies and supporting development in the countries our investment targets.”

Curbelo also underlined COFIDES’ ability to mobilise multilateral financing resources “through the recent accreditation to the United Nations Green Fund, as well as with the combined financing instruments of the European Union”.

COMMITMENT TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The chairman of the company availed of the opening ceremony to underline COFIDES’ strategic commitment to establishing “development as one of the cornerstones of the company, which we have been doing by means of the standards of environmental, social and economic sustainability which we adhere to in our projects, and which we want to reinforce by expanding to include other initiatives which are facing financing difficulties but which have a significant impact on the development of the target countries”, he said in his presentation.

ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION ON PORTUGAL AS A DESTINATION FOR INVESTMENT

COFIDES also took part in the round table discussion “Portugal: an attractive destination for Spanish trade and investment”. In her contribution, the deputy director of COFIDES’ Commercial and Business Development Division, Ana Cebrián, highlighted “the interest that Portugal is generating among the companies which contacted COFIDES in the last year, which translates into an increase in investment in our neighbouring country.” She also outlined the characteristics of the products that COFIDES makes available to companies, as well as “the experience we have in Portugal in various sectors, among which the automobile industry and the textile industry stand out.”

FEIQUE ASEAN COUNTRIES SEMINAR

COFIDES also participated in the seminar on “Business and investment opportunities in ASEAN”, organised by the Federation of the Spanish Chemical Industry (FEIQUE in its Spanish acronym). At the opening of the seminar, the COFIDES general director, Rodrigo Madrazo, pointed out that “in COFIDES’ 30 years in existence it has invested 120 million euro in 91 projects from the chemical-pharmaceutical sector.” What’s more, these projects have contributed to the creation of more than 3,700 jobs, he said.

Furthermore, he noted that COFIDES seeks to ensure its investments contribute to a country’s development, and so it analyses the environmental and social impact of the operations and the effects on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

At this event, the director of Commercial and Business Development also presented the financing instruments COFIDES provides in order to support investment projects in countries which form part of ASEAN and explained that COFIDES has specific instruments in place for SMEs, such as Crece + and Pyme Invierte.

Lastly, Cebrián said that COFIDES has invested in projects in Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia and has shown its confidence in expanding the portfolio of projects in ASEAN countries in the coming years.

IMEX is the leading international business and foreign trade fair held in Spain. It has been held sixteen times in Madrid, six in Catalonia, six in Andalusia, four in Valencia, three in Castilla-La Mancha and two in Asturias. Launched in 2003, the IMEX fair organised by the international business magazine Moneda Única (Single Currency), works to improve the competitiveness of SMEs by means of an effective and innovative presentation of the products and services needed in order to boost the internationalisation of companies.

COFIDES is a public-private company which has been offering financial support to Spanish companies investing abroad since 1988. It is the exclusive manager of FIEX and FONPYME funds on behalf of the Secretariat of State for Trade attached to the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism. Shareholders include Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), Banco Santander, Banco Sabadell and CAF-Development Bank of Latin America.