2015-04-29

COFIDES AND THE STATE GENERAL RESERVE FUND OF THE SULTANATE OF OMAN SIGNED AN AGREEMENT TO ESTABLISH A FUND FOR THE INTERNATIONALISATION OF SPANISH COMPANIES

Granted an initial €200m, it will promote the internationalisation of Spanish companies through capital operations . The agreement has been signed in the presence of the Secretary of State for Trade, Jaime García-Legaz, and Oman’sMinister of Commerce and Industry H.E. Dr. Ali Al-Sunaidy

 Compañía Española de Financiación del Desarrollo, COFIDES SA, and the State General Reserve Fund, Oman sovereign fund (OIA) will launch a fund for the internationalisation of Spanish companies.

 Both the State General Reserve Fund of the Sultanate of Oman as well as Spain will each contribute €100m, which will create an initial joint fund of €200m. This fund will be available to finance the Spanish companies with international expansion plans and attracts them towards Oman.

 This is what has been agreed by OIA Executive President, His Excellency Abdulsalam Al Murshidi, and the COFIDES Chairman and CEO, Salvador Marin, who today signed a cooperation agreement in Oman in the presence of the Secretary of State for Trade, Jaime García-Legaz and H.E. Dr. Ali Al-Sunaidy, the Minister of Commerce and Industry of Oman, to initiate this project.

 The agreement, which is the result of previous meetings held by the Spanish government through the Secretary of State for Trade of the Government of Spain and the Omani Government through OIA, focuses especially on companies interested in conducting business in Oman, and targeting the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries, East Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia. The fund will allow Oman to benefit from the expertise and technological knowhow of Spanish companies through job creation, technology transfer and investment return. The principal focus sectors for the fund will be Building Materials, Food, Infrastructure, Energy and Tourism. The forecast is that this fund will be launched at the end of the second quarter in order to make the first investments available at the end of this year.

 COFIDES Chairman and CEO, Salvador Marín, expressed his satisfaction with this agreement, that "After the high-level meetings conducted by the Secretary of State for Trade of the Spanish Government and the Government of Oman, this is going to be a specific and lasting relationship between Oman and Spain". Marin stressed that "This is an excellent opportunity for Spanish companies wishing to invest in new strategic markets as it will certainly strengthen their financial structure”.