Just as many of us like to dip our toes in the water of the Costas of Spain and Portugal, many businesses choose these countries as somewhere to dip their toe into exporting.
This is no surprise. We’ve always had a strong business relationship with both Spain and Portugal and, despite their recent economic performance, things are looking up in both countries. The UKTI team in Spain directly helped over 1,300 UK companies win more than £70m of new business last year and Spain remains a top ten export market for my region, East of England, with a GDP up 3.4%. Sectors doing well in Spain include energy efficiency, consumer goods (especially luxury brands, food and drink, healthcare and cosmetics), rail, biotechnology and agritechnology. Portugal has a GDP up 1.4%. It also has a growing technology sector, which will be of particular interest to companies in the East of England region.
Given this it’s also no surprise then that we’ve chosen Lisbon and Madrid as the destination for a three-day taster visit for new exporters that I will be accompanying this month. This will really take these businesses to the heart of what is going on in these countries. Not many potential exporters get to meet ambassadors (we’ll be visiting the British Embassies in both Lisbon and Madrid) and a range of experts in doing business in the different sectors and areas of Spain and Portugal. Anyone who’s holidayed in different parts of Spain will know that Catalonia for example isn’t like the Basque country and these differences carry through to business. Those on the trip will also get the inside track on growth areas and some of the legal and practical implications that they would only find out through trial and error otherwise.
It’s going to be a busy three days but one I know all of the business people I’ll be accompanying will benefit from enormously. I would advise anyone who’s got a product or service that sells well in the UK to give Spain and Portugal a go. And if you need more convincing just take a look at the Exporting is GREAT website highlighting the current live export opportunities that for Spain include robotics technology, eco solutions for tourism, food, fashion, mobility and housing, seagull deterrents and suppliers for electric vehicle manufacture. Opportunities in Portugal include carpets, baby food, frozen food and gin.
You can find global export opportunities on the Exporting is GREAT website. Visit the site for export leads, practical support and inspiration for UK companies who want to grow their business through export