Opportunities for Irish Companies in the Market
Consumer Products
Industrial Products: Pharmaceuticals
Medical Devices
Internationally Traded Services: Telecommunications (Software)
e-Government (Software)
Financial Services (Software)
e-Learning (Software)
Opportunities for Irish Companies in the Market
Spain is an open, advanced industrial market, with sustained economic growth, offering good business opportunities for Irish companies. It is the fifth largest European market for Irish indigenous exports, with exports from Ireland to Spain reaching just under €2,231m in 2002.
EU legislation, combined with the government's ongoing liberalisation programme, will continue to drive the deregulation of product markets, creating new opportunities for foreign companies particularly in energy, transport, telecommunications, agriculture and leisure services.
The Portuguese market is smaller in size, with €364m exports in 2002, but Irish exporters find that it is an attractive market to do business with for many reasons. The smaller size of the market means that many of our clients' main competitors focus on larger markets; the Portuguese have an excellent command of the English language which makes it easier for Irish companies to do business with them and they identify with Ireland as a peripheral nation and admire its recent economic success, and are thus generally positively disposed towards Irish companies and people.
Spanish and Portuguese companies are also in a strong position to exploit cultural and linguistic ties with Latin America and can serve as a gateway for Irish companies in order to do business in that region.
Consumer Products:
The Iberian peninsula has a combined population of 50 million people - a significant target market for Irish consumer products. A market awareness campaign has been undertaken in the market in 2003, which has increased awareness of Ireland as a source of quality products and will be continued into 2004. Main opportunities lie in the giftware and fashion areas.
Industrial Products: Pharmaceuticals
Spain is the seventh largest market for pharmaceuticals and has shown strong growth patterns in recent years. There is a currently a strong effort underway to increase the use of generics in Spain.
Medical Devices -
Spain, with a production of over US$ 1 billion Euro, is the eighth largest manufacturer of medical devices in mainland Europe. There is a strong local industry, as well as the presence of several major international medical OEMs. The main production centres are Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia. Opportunities for Irish companies include: medical packaging, disposables, contract manufacturing and specialist medical tooling/precision engineering.
The Portuguese medical device market is relatively small, at €445.5m. However, medical device expenditure accounts for an increasing share of overall healthcare spending and demand for medical equipment and supplies remains strong as the government continues to invest in the construction of new healthcare facilities and expansion of existing ones. The public service, particularly hospitals, purchases the vast majority of material. The advanced medical equipment sector offers the best prospects for Irish suppliers.
Internationally Traded Services: Telecommunications (Software)
The Spanish telecommunications environment is one of the most advanced in the world. Telefonica (the national carrier) is one of Europe's largest companies and has invested strongly in other telecommunications networks in Europe and Latin America. Spain has the fourth largest GSM market in Europe, with over 30 million subscribers. There are 3 GSM operators and 4 UMTS licence holders.
Portugal is the 7th largest GSM market in Europe, with 9.26m subscribers and a 89.38% penetration rate. There are 3 GSM Mobile Telecoms operators in Portugal and each of these also holds a licence for UMTS services.
e-Government (Software)
Spain's central Government is located Madrid, with each of the 17 regions operating their own Government and other local authorities. Main opportunities exist for Irish companies in Social Security, Identification, Tax and e-Learning.
There is a lot of momentum is building up in the area of E-Government / Public Administration in Portugal. A new task force has been set up to drive change, given that the country is positioned somewhat behind its European counterparts in terms of public services available on line and will have to play "catch up" for a time.
Financial Services (Software)
The Financial services sector in Spain is one of the largest in Europe - BBVA and BSCH are two of the top 10 banks in Europe. The level of technology employed in the financial services is leading edge, which has opened up opportunities for Irish companies developing and selling banking software.
Four major banks, CGD, BCP, BPI and BES, run 70% of the retail banking market in Portugal. Spain's BSCH controls a further 11%. Similar to the Telecoms industry, the banking industry in Portugal is known for early adoption of leading edge technology.
e-Learning (Software)
The Spanish elearning market generated €45.1M in 2002, which is expected to grow to €100M in 2004. Most opportunities will come from language training, as well as tailor-made content for corporates and sectoral groups.
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