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Conversation highlights:
- Strategic Priorities: Since September 2023, Invest in Madrid has been focused on boosting foreign direct investment into the Madrid region, guided by a new four-year strategy launched in October 2023.
- Four Main Goals: Promote Madrid internationally as a top investment destination, build stronger economic agendas with target countries, run international campaigns to strengthen brand equity, and Support ministers and the regional president in international trips to raise Madrid’s profile abroad.
- Sector Focus: Emphasized healthcare and life sciences as priority sectors given their high added value, connection to the health system post-pandemic, and strong talent/employment generation.
- Vision: Invest in Madrid wants to remain useful both to society and to companies, by ensuring they view Madrid as a reliable and attractive destination for investment.
EF: What are your current priorities?
LSU: When we started this new position in September 2023, the president began his new four-year term of ruling in Madrid. Her big priority was focused on increasing the foreign direct investment in Madrid. That is the reason why we decided to boost Invest in Madrid and to identify and design the new FDI strategy. The strategy that we started carrying out in October 2023 has four main goals that we are trying to increase and work on during these four years. We are going to maintain that agenda for the next few years.
We want to promote the Madrid region internationally as an investment destination. This means and includes, for example, increasing the economic agenda that we are developing in our specific countries. It also includes the new campaign we launched in June this year, the first international campaign to position Madrid as an investment destination. The slogan was “It’s Abierto, it’s Madrid Region,” because we felt the word "Abierto” is very important to be open and to mix English and Spanish, as we want to identify in this context.
We are also developing a new newsletter and digital platform to increase our brand equity outside Spain. In addition, we support all regional ministries and the president in international visits. For example, last year, the Regional Minister of Health travelled to London to meet with organizations to increase the health sector’s footprint.
The Regional Minister of Transport will be in Munich at Expo Real to present our progress on housing and transport policies. Together with our president, we have also organized five international trips a year. We were recently in Lisbon, Portugal, and two more trips are on the way. This first line of action is very important for us.
The second line of action focuses on developing and modernizing the services we offer to our investors. In this context, we divide our investors into two main categories: those already in Madrid, whose presence we want to increase, and those not yet in Madrid or Spain, whom we want to attract from other countries. In September 2023, we defined our strategic sectors and target markets, focusing mainly on the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy. In Asia, we are focusing on Japan and Korea. In LATAM, which is very important for us because we want to be the bridge between Europe and Latin countries through our language, we are focusing on Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, and Chile.
To attract investors and develop our internal agenda, we focus on these specific markets. We welcome all investors, but we are mainly focusing on high-value-added industries such as life sciences, defence and security, mobility/transport/automotion, artificial intelligence and digitalization, Semiconductors, video games and audiovisual, which is very important for us, and finally, data centers.
When looking for investment, we encourage organizations to bring their private initiatives, and we are also seeking collaborations for major projects we are developing, such as our new Science City of Madrid and a new transport system.
Thirdly, we are working to increase the stakeholder ecosystem we have. That is why we are working very closely with the chambers of commerce of key countries, with embassies, and with what we call facilitators, banks, advisors, and others who can help us reach specific investors in order to attract more projects.
In fourth place, we are working horizontally with the nine regional ministers to strengthen our commitment to investors. We maintain strong links with them when they receive company delegations or plan international trips, helping prepare materials and supporting meetings in any sector.
We aim to stay very well coordinated, working directly with the president’s office and staff, as well as with each of the nine ministers. These are the main priorities and the four key lines of action we are developing.
EF: How do you see Madrid’s competitive position evolving compared to other European capitals?
LSU: What benefits Madrid ultimately benefits Spain. Our focus is on positioning Madrid among Europe’s leading destinations, alongside cities such as London, Paris, Munich, and the industrial regions of northern Italy. Our strength rests on three main pillars: Talent, Strong commitment to creating a business-friendly environment, and positioning us as a bridge between Latin America and Europe.
Madrid offers a vast pool of highly qualified professionals who are also drawn to the city’s exceptional quality of life. The cost of living is comparatively reasonable, transportation infrastructure is efficient, and international connectivity is excellent. We believe that this balance between professional opportunity and personal well-being gives us a distinctive advantage. Moreover, Madrid hosts three of Europe’s top business schools—IE, ESADE, and IESE—as well as 19 universities and a robust vocational training network, all of which supply a steady stream of skilled talent for diverse industries.
Regarding our commitment to creating a business-friendly environment, Madrid is the only region in Spain without regional taxes, applying only those established at the national level. We are actively reducing the time between an investor’s decision and the execution of their project, because we understand that time is money. Initiatives like the Open Market Law and the Investment Accelerator are designed to make establishing operations in Madrid as straightforward and efficient as possible.
Lastly, Madrid’s cultural and linguistic ties with Latin America make it an attractive base for companies seeking to operate across both regions. For many European, Asian, and American firms, Madrid serves as a natural hub for international coordination.
EF: Could you elaborate on the importance of the life sciences sector to your strategy?
LSU: Since 2023, we have been developing a strategic agenda for each of Madrid’s seven key sectors, beginning with life sciences. Over the past two years, we have collaborated closely with the entire ecosystem—companies, hospitals, universities, and research centers- to build a comprehensive strategy that reflects the sector’s strength and potential. Madrid is home to more than 40 hospitals, a broad network of R&D centers, numerous universities, and over 40 production plants, both public and private, which together form a robust foundation for growth and innovation.
After a year and a half of coordinated work, we presented the first regional strategy for the life sciences sector, structured around three main pillars: innovation and market access, ensuring that new solutions reach patients and healthcare providers more efficiently; the second pillar emphasizes research and its practical application within hospitals and health centers. Our goal is to expand clinical research beyond major hospitals and accelerate the time between innovation and the introduction of new medicines into the healthcare system.
The third pillar centers on talent, training, and investment. This involves strong collaboration between the Ministries of Health and Economy and the private sector. We have established an investment accelerator for life sciences and dedicated one of our employment offices exclusively to connecting companies with qualified professionals. We will launch in 2026 a new training office in Tres Cantos, near many of the sector’s leading companies, to design tailored training programs for both current employees and individuals seeking to enter the field.
EF: What is your perspective on AI, and what role do you see Madrid playing in the field of artificial intelligence?
LSU: We are trying to increase the usage of AI in Madrid, applying it in two main ways. First, we want to use AI to make the public health system more efficient, introducing this technology to reduce the time people need to wait to be attended to. We signed an agreement in New York in June with Oracle, with an investment of 1,000 million euros, and we are working with AI to reduce times in the public health system. This is a concrete example of how we are modernizing and making the system more efficient with real projects.
Second, we want to work with private agents and show how AI can be applied in R&D and innovation. For example, GSK announced in March that it is creating a new R&D center in Madrid with an investment of 4.5 million euros to apply AI in its research.
EF: Looking at the next few years and the next decade, what do you think is most critical for maintaining Madrid’s competitiveness and ensuring that investments are sustainable?
LSU: I believe there are three main challenges. First, we need to improve how we manage energy, materials, and resources to be more efficient. Sustainability in the sector is very important, which is why we are taking action in this area.
Second, talent is a key challenge. We want to focus on ensuring companies have access to the skilled workforce they need.
Third, we need to improve the way investments are made. For example, we are committed to increasing the European industrial footprint and strategic sovereignty. We want companies to set up plants and production in Madrid. This is why we are working with American, British, and other international companies to grow their industrial presence here.
A good example is Lilly, with whom we started working in January 2024. After a year and a half, they decided to open a new plant in Madrid, investing 150 million euros in Alcobendas, as announced in June of this year. These are the initiatives we are working on, and as you can see, all are from this year. They show our strong commitment to the sector, which is very important to us because it is closely linked to high-value industries and the health system. After the pandemic, we have been particularly committed to this area. Thirdly, the employment created by these investments is very important, as it provides high-quality jobs.
EF: What is your proudest moment, and what would you like to celebrate next?
LSU: We are always very proud when we lock in a successful collaboration that positively impacts Madrid and the country. Projects like the one with Lilly, bringing over 150 million euros and creating 100 new jobs, make us very proud.
We are very committed and open to foreign investment. This is very important for us. We want to be useful as a public office. Despite being only 11 people in our team, we are proud of our operation. We want to be an enabler for society by collaborating with all the ministers on sector strategies and international trips, and also to support companies in seeing Madrid as a very reliable investment destination.
