Juan Costa, the Spanish trade secretary, announced a plan to develop Spanish commerce and investment in the ten countries that are candidates to join the EU in 2004, and Romania and Bulgaria, which are candidates to join in 2007.
Mr Costa said that the government would open a capital investment line of 110m euros for projects in which the state is a shareholder of the company, plus an annual subsidy of 5m euros for SMEs.
The coverage of export credit insurance will be increased, special support plans for the consumer electronics and automotive sectors, amongst others, will be developed, and new representative offices will be opened in Lithuania, Slovenia and Cyprus.
Source: El Pais
