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Interview: Miguel Ángel Villanueva González, Consejero Delegado del Area de Economía y Hacienda del Ayuntamiento de Madrid, Spain
By Editorial for CEOWORLD Magazine Updated:June 27, 2009
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By: CEOWORLD Magazine
The following Interview is brought to you by CEOWORLD Magazine.
“Madrid, a place to do business and enjoy life”
Could you, please, describe the city to businessmen who have never been to Madrid and give them some figures regarding transport, hotel capacity, etc.?
The city of Madrid is a big European capital which has experienced a revolution during the last few years in terms of its infrastructure and its international importance. Madrid has made a great and visible effort in this field, when compared to other European capitals. The city also has one of the best metro networks in the world. Regarding the airport infrastructure, we have just finished extending the Barajas Airport by opening the T4 terminal, which can offer its services to 70 million passengers a year.
Also, the highway network has seen a true revolution, in terms of both: public highways and the ones with a toll. This places Madrid on an unbeatable position, when considering the connection with the national road network. Besides, there are new high- speed roads being built, which will enable travelling to various critical points of the country, quickly and comfortably. All these factors should give us an idea of what has been done and improved in the infrastructure of the city.
Another field in which we have seen a vast improvement over the last few years is the hotel industry which is now striving to reach the minimal requirements given for the year 2012 and to make hotel capacity more than sufficient, so that we would be able to conduct such events as the Olympic Games in 2016. For this purpose, more than 10000 new rooms have been created since 2000, more than 83% of which are of 4- or 5-star standard.
For these reasons, Madrid is becoming one of European leaders when considering infrastructure efficiency and hotel industry. The latter is booming because of the rising visitors’ affluence, which currently locates us among 5 most frequently visited European cities, with more than 7 million tourists a year. In reference to business tourism in 2008 we organised more than 4000 congresses, conventions and international trade fairs. We are currently in the process of extending our offer with such facilities as the future International Conventions Centre, which is due to be finalized in 2011, and will be one of Europe’s biggest icons and the third congress place in the city.
In 2006 the region of Madrid was the major recipient of the direct external investments in Spain (43.2%). The economy of the region is led by the service sector and supported by a solid industrial base. What are the reasons for Madrid getting such an important share of IDE? In which sectors does Madrid offer major opportunities for investment?
There are many factors which make the matter complicated, because Madrid receives a major part of the foreign investments in whole Spain. Madrid’s geographic location is our ally and the latest infrastructure revolution facilitates the connection both within the national territory and with Europe, South America and North Africa. Because of this Barajas airport became the starting point for the majority of flights between Europe and South America, and is becoming more and more important for the flights to Asia and the United States.
Another reason why Madrid gets the major part of IDE is its economic infrastructure. The city’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth shifted within the last few years towards different sectors such as the financial sector, telecommunication sector, energy sector, construction industry, I+D-related industry and service sector. Madrid has adopted the new productive model of management and is very competitive, which turned Madrid into Spain’s economic engine and one of the European economic leaders.
During the last years, the administration has firmly supported business initiatives and I think that there are extraordinary opportunities in the services for industry, in the financial sector and in the sector of engineering, especially with new technologies.
Who will be the interlocutors for the foreign investors who come to Madrid?
The Town Council of Madrid during the last term created an office for attracting foreign investors which is supposed to provide the potential investors with all the required information on fiscal, logistic and practical matters.
Madrid wants to attract environment-friendly industries so they can ensure high quality of services, because we do not want to compete in those fields of economic activity which can be located in developing countries, where the cost of manpower is much lower than in Spain. One of Madrid’s major advantages is academic education: 14 public and private universities and 2 of the best business schools in the world. These institutions make a perfect place for companies which want to invest but need skilled staff.
Madrid is a candidate to organize the Olympic Games in 2016. At the beginning of May a Commission from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) came to Madrid in order to evaluate the candidature. What challenges await Madrid? What are its strong points and what are the potential benefits ?
A/4 Madrid’s candidature is solid and safe. First, because 77% of the investments have already been finished or are almost finished. In the present economic situation of recession the International Olympic Committee has to be sure that Madrid is a safe candidate because the bulk of investments have already been finished.
Second, Madrid intends to organize the Olympic Games because we believe that after great Olympics having been celebrated in Asian Beijing and those which will take place in 2012 in London we would like to organise the event here, because of the importance of the Spanish language in the world.
Third,. because we believe that the games should be held in a city which cares about the environment and is developed enough to host such an event.
I would also like to add that the candidature was not only advanced by the city itself but by the whole country, meaning there is unanimous support of the political forces, the trade unions, the managerial staff and the citizens in favour of organising the 2016 Olympic Games in Madrid.
As for the expected benefits of the Olympic Games, the Olympics being the most important universal event, could provide extraordinary international publicity, improve our image abroad, increase economic activity in the city, create new jobs, attract investors and increase the number of tourists.
An important aspect for every businessman who travels abroad is the cultural offer and the leisure which the city offers. What are the most interesting options?
Personally I think Madrid is one of the European capitals which offers the highest quality of life. The city has around 3.5 million citizens, all the advantages of a big city but lacks the inconveniences of bigger cities. We also need to remember that Madrid is the second city in the world in terms of green space, where citizens can enjoy fresh air.
Madrid is also one of the greatest cultural capitals of Europe, with art galleries which can be considered some of the most important in the world (Museum of Prado, Museum Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía and Museum Thyssen-Bornemisza), with the centre of contemporary art like “Matadero Madrid”, with such special events as “La noche en blanco” which surpass our expectations every year, having more than 1 million visitors during the night.
Madrid is also a scene for big sport events all year long and offers an unbeatable offer when it comes to traditional cuisine.
Finally, I would like to add that Madrid is a city where nobody feels like a foreigner. 177 nationalities coexist within its limits without any problems. All these elements make Madrid a competitive city and a safe deal for any businessman.
In our section about European capitals Madrid appears together with such cities as Paris, London, Berlin, Brussels and others (15 in total). No doubt each of them has its own individual character. What elements make Madrid stand out?
I think we can sum up that Madrid is a place to work and enjoy. A city to do business and have fun, which is an increasingly important concept.
Our readers would like to know something about you personally. Could you briefly describe your work and tell us what your greatest satisfaction has been since you acceded to this position in 2004?
My name is Miguel Ángel Villanueva González . I am 41 years old and I finished law at the Complutense University of Madrid. I have dealt with politics for more than half of my life. I was a Member of Parliament during 3 terms and a representative in a regional Parliament during one of them, I have been a senator and since 2004 I have been responsible for the economy of Madrid.
One of my biggest satisfactions is the fact that today Madrid gets 40% more visitors than in 2004. It is a very significant rise, and no European city has achieved such a big increase in tourism in such a short time.
Contact:
Thank you very much for the interview.
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