The rate of entrepreneurial activity in Catalonia remains in an upward trend but the challenge it faces is the need to capture and retain talent in the field of entrepreneurship and associated with technology
Catalonia continues to be an important development focus for new projects led by entrepreneurs with growth rates within the Spanish and European context. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Catalunya 2018-2019 report, promoted by the Generalitat and the Diputación de Barcelona, shows that the rate of entrepreneurial activity in Catalonia rose to 8.13% in 2018 after an increase of 0.1 points compared to 2017.
This improvement should be consolidated because the competition is very high in all areas. Hence, the great challenge now facing Catalonia is the recruitment and retention of talent in the field of entrepreneurship and associated with technology. “Catalonia is one of the great poles of technology attraction,” said the Secretary of Enterprise and Competitiveness of the Generalitat, Joaquim Ferrer, during the presentation of the study.
In 2018, the rate registered in Catalonia (8.13%) was higher than the Spanish rate, located at 6.39%, and the European rate, which was 8%, and highlighted the province of Barcelona where it stood at 8.63%, the highest figure in the last 12 years.
“The main conclusion is that we are doing well in Barcelona. Now we have to be able to apply this good note of Barcelona in the rest of the territory,” Ferrer said.
On the other hand, the deputy of Economic Promotion and Occupation in the function of the Diputación de Barcelona, Sonia Recasens, has valued the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Barcelona, since the fact of positioning itself as a great European ‘hub’ has made it attract centers technological and innovation of multinationals, he explained.
Recasens has highlighted the growth of the female entrepreneurial activity rate, which stood at 7.7% – in 2013 it was 4.8% – reducing the gender difference by 1.8 percentage points: “It has made an extraordinary saloon “, he has specified.