Spain to give €3 billion in digital bonuses to one million SMEs and self-employed
The Spanish government has announced that it has earmarked €3 billion of the EU recovery funds for the digital transformation of businesses run by one million SMEs and 'autónomos' in the country.
This will allow small businesses and autónomos (self-employed workers in Spain) to finance a set of services and solutions already available in the market, in order to further digitise their businesses.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced the plan at the inauguration of the 8th annual Congress of Multinationals by Brand Spain on Wednesday.
The so-called 'Digital Kit' will run until 2023 with an initial investment of €500 million and will soon be available to self-employed workers and companies with between 10 and 49 employees.
"We will continue with funding for SMEs of other sizes at a later stage," Sánchez said.
"We are talking about very relevant, very important amounts of money, which can have a crucial transformative effect from the point of view of digitisation, sustainability and competitiveness," he added.
La Moncloa government wrote that "we are talking about the largest investment in history to facilitate the digital transformation of our SMEs and self-employed workers".
Spain is at the forefront and "there is no time to lose," Spain's PM concluded.
How exactly money will be allocated to freelancers and SMEs is yet to be clarified, or what digital improvements will be funded through the bonuses and what the criteria to apply will be.
In June 2021 there were 2.9 million SMEs in Spain, 73 percent in the services sector.
According to Spanish social security stats, there are also around 3 million self-employed workers in the country.
This would suggest that not all of these businesses will be able to access the digital bonus, available to 1 million SMEs and aútonomos according to Sánchez.
As well as improving businesses and the economy, Sánchez explained that one of the main reasons for the plan is to increase Spain's value as an investment destination.
"The administrations are committed to boost investments as much as possible and what they are going to do is guarantee a speedy economic recovery and the modernisation of our economy," the socialist leader stated.
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This will allow small businesses and autónomos (self-employed workers in Spain) to finance a set of services and solutions already available in the market, in order to further digitise their businesses.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced the plan at the inauguration of the 8th annual Congress of Multinationals by Brand Spain on Wednesday.
The so-called 'Digital Kit' will run until 2023 with an initial investment of €500 million and will soon be available to self-employed workers and companies with between 10 and 49 employees.
"We will continue with funding for SMEs of other sizes at a later stage," Sánchez said.
"We are talking about very relevant, very important amounts of money, which can have a crucial transformative effect from the point of view of digitisation, sustainability and competitiveness," he added.
La Moncloa government wrote that "we are talking about the largest investment in history to facilitate the digital transformation of our SMEs and self-employed workers".
Spain is at the forefront and "there is no time to lose," Spain's PM concluded.
How exactly money will be allocated to freelancers and SMEs is yet to be clarified, or what digital improvements will be funded through the bonuses and what the criteria to apply will be.
In June 2021 there were 2.9 million SMEs in Spain, 73 percent in the services sector.
According to Spanish social security stats, there are also around 3 million self-employed workers in the country.
This would suggest that not all of these businesses will be able to access the digital bonus, available to 1 million SMEs and aútonomos according to Sánchez.
As well as improving businesses and the economy, Sánchez explained that one of the main reasons for the plan is to increase Spain's value as an investment destination.
"The administrations are committed to boost investments as much as possible and what they are going to do is guarantee a speedy economic recovery and the modernisation of our economy," the socialist leader stated.
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