This article was translated by John R. Bopp
We’ve been blogging about the Innova Fund a lot recently. It’s a project run by the Biscay provincial government whose objective is to give economic support to R&D and innovation. We’ve also compiled several reports about the activity happening all around the Basque Autonomous Community to get the young Basques who’ve had to go abroad to find work opportunities a chance to come home.
Today, we’ve found out more about how these plans are coming to fruition.
On the one hand, the parliaments of Biscay and of Araba have approved tax breaks for the taxpayers in those territories who invest in the Innova Fund. This innovative system designed to capture resources to economically support R&D&I consists of creating a guaranteed fund for a reciprocal guarantee corporation. Through it, taxpayers can loan their savings, between €3,000-5,000, to local startups for five years in exchange for a deduction in their income taxes of 15% in the first of the five years, with a 100% guarantee on the invested capital.
On the other hand, the general assemblies of the three territories that make up the BAC have approved, or are in the process of approving, financial means to support the return of “talent” that is currently abroad, especially to bring back home those Basques who had to go abroad during the crisis.
We’ve also recently found information about a lot of different activities Bizkaia Talent is doing, including the Be Basque Talent Meetings being held around the world. Almost at exactly the same time as the assemblies were approving the financial packages to support those who want to come home, one of these talent meetings was organized by Bizkaia Talent in Boston, as part of the European Career Fair. Thirty Basque professionals with diverse academic backgrounds, most of them having studied in Engineering and Biosciences, attended.
Coordinated and bold action to support innovation and to get our talent spread around teh world to come home is fundamental. As we’ve commented on other occasions:
“We hope all young Basques again have the opportunity to work in our country. Going out into the world is great, because we are a society that is open to the world and we need professionals who are used to it. But being able to come home to good economic and working conditions is even better, and much more important, because, among other reasons, if our “talent” leaves us, we lose our only source of wealth, our only raw material: people and knowledge“
Below you’ll find links to two articles we found regarding these initiatives.
Business Insider – 14/4/2018 – Italia
I Paesi Baschi vogliono riportare a casa i cervelli in fuga, e finanziano le startup con i fondi dei piccoli risparmiatori
paesi baschi nuovo eldorado delle imprese? Forse. La Biscaglia, regione spagnola è decisa a dare nuovo slancio alla sua economia (e , se possibile, persino a quella europea) creando le condizioni di fertilità più ampia possibile per le aziende straniere (o Basche che per effetto della crisi sono andate all’estero e vogliono tornare in patria) che intendono aprire i battenti per la prima volta (o di nuovo) nel nord della Spagna.
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PresseBox – 9/4/2018 – Alemania
Innovative Steuerpolitik im Baskenland: Steuererleichterung für Rückkehrer und Förderung regionaler Start-Ups
Die baskische Provinz Bizkaia führt eine Reihe von Steuererleichterungen ein, um sowohl Fachkräfte dazu zu ermutigen, sich dort niederzulassen, als auch Bürger anzuregen, in die pulsierende, regionale Start-Up-Szene zu investieren.
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Last Updated on Dec 20, 2020 by About Basque Country
