Conquest of the East
30 minutes, 2003
Ref: 71tvc

All alone in an impersonal hotel room in Hungary, sadness and loneliness moved Isidre Campano to tears. Ramon Llané was enthusiastic about relocating to a foreign country, but his wife was not at all happy in their new home. Tomasz Malecki is Polish, but when he was offered a job in his home country, he had to seriously think it over because he had grown so accustomed to life in Barcelona. All these people have one thing in common; they're all directors of Spanish subsidiaries in Eastern Europe, the new El Dorado for companies looking to expand markets and lower production costs. In recent years, there has been a growing number of industrial multinationals of Spanish origin. In the year 2000, for the first time in its history, Spanish investments abroad outstripped foreign inflows of capital. Over 170 companies that used to be in the export business have set up factories on foreign soil. Although Spain lags behind other European countries in this relatively new phenomenon, the process looks unstoppable. These subsidiary companies now employ over 100,000 workers. Though there are evident benefits for Spain's economy, there are also drawbacks such as fewer jobs for blue-collar workers. We focus on three Spanish companies with subsidiaries in Hungary and Poland, two countries about to join the European Union. Through the experiences of the companies' directors - Spanish or local - the personal side of macro-economic ventures of this sort is examined: good and bad moments, business practice cultural shock and family problems. For all three, the bottom line has been positive. And in economic terms, the lesson is clear: "internationalization" is no longer an option but an obligation.