The presentation of the three Valencia region good practices and the COMPETE IN consortium meeting took place in Valencia from December 13 to 15, 2017.
Participants from ERVET Emilia-Romagna, the region territorial development agency and from the municipality of Reggio Emilia, which coordinates the COMPETE IN project participated in the visit. Among the attendees were representatives of Emilia Romagna food sector, such as the food innovation program and the technological institute of food CRPA. A representative of Reggio Children, organization of the infant education sector, also took part in the event and met with the director of the Valencia City of Arts and Sciences.
On the part of Poland, representatives of different organizations of the two participating regions attended. The Marshall offices of Katowice and the Wielkopolska Region, the Katowice special economic zone, the Silesian Entrepreneurship Centre and the Chamber of Commerce among other. Two other regions were present as well, the University of Leeds Beckett (United Kingdom) and the Municipality of Gavle (Sweden).
One of the three good practices presented was related to the new foreign investment law that aims to facilitate administrative procedures for companies with new investment projects. This law makes possible for the foreign investors to speed up procedures needed for investing in the Valencia Region, easing approval procedures and simplifying administrative tasks. It also coordinates the national, regional and local administration.
Other two practices presented were the Xpande program and SICOMEX, both designed to answer the needs of exporting companies. These two examples are related to the international penetration of the Region, via its private sector internationalization. The XPANDE program managed by the regional Chambers of Commerce is aimed at new exporters and provides both in house assistance and training for the design of an export plan, plus public funds for the implementation of the selected activities in foreign markets for a certain period of time . Within the SICOMEX program, a consultant located in a selected market provides market entry services for a small group of companies over a limited period of time. Costs are shared among the participants. Sicomex is managed by ARVET, exporters association.
Best practice 3 referred to ENTREPRENEURSHIP CROSS REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS: entrepreneurship promotion from the perspective of internationalization. The city of Valencia is leading the support to start ups and entrepreneurship in Spain, setting up networks and offering technical, logistic and financial assistance to new and innovative business projects.
VIT Emprende, belonging to the municipality of Valencia, provides assistance schemes that support start-ups at different stages of growth. Its members have the chance to share knowledge, collaborate in R&D activities, transfer technology, go international and create synergies by networking with prominent bodies in the field of Valencian entrepreneurship.
Other side visits designed especially for the stakeholders invited by the Compete In partners were organized. Of particular interest was the visit to the food technology institute AINIA, and AIDIME technology institute responsible for the metal and wood sectors. Of special relevance was the meeting of representatives of the automotive cluster of Valencia and Silesia.
The programme ended with the consortium meeting in which the partners revised the best practices presented and prepared the next steps to be taken.
