ACCIÓ activates €37.5M in grants to drive business internationalisation

In 2025 ACCIÓ will devote a total of €37.5 million to new grant lines to boost the international presence of Catalan companies. The announcement, made by the Minister for Business and Labour, Miquel Sàmper, forms part of the Responem Plan, a Catalan Government initiative to tackle the effects of the tariff crisis and the new scenario of global trade tensions, especially with the United States.

Higher tariffs and other protectionist measures have created a more complex environment for exporters. Faced with this, the Government has decided to double last year's budget for ACCIÓ's business internationalisation grants, to strengthen the competitiveness and resilience of the Catalan productive fabric in international markets.

Applications open before the summer and the grants are aimed at companies from various sectors, including agri-food, to help them expand into new markets and strengthen their global presence. The support lines include multi-location grants for setting up subsidiaries abroad (up to €80,000 per project), international promotion grants (up to €30,000), internationalisation vouchers (up to €10,500) and specific services for diversifying exports, especially for companies that regularly trade with the United States.

This budget effort also includes actions to encourage Catalan companies to take part in international fairs, trade missions and other overseas promotion activities. In all, ACCIÓ expects to carry out close to a hundred activities during the year, with the support of its network of overseas offices and the Technical Office for Internationalisation Barriers.

In parallel, two new programmes will be launched to strengthen the business community's export capabilities. The first, a new export start-up programme with €10 million, will focus on beginning to export and will be run with the support of the Internationalisation Support Agents. The second, a business growth service with a €4.5 million budget, will focus on business growth as a lever for gaining scale and competitive capacity internationally.

The agency ACCIÓ has also recently activated the "Adapt to the new United States" service, a specific tool for advising companies affected by the US tariff escalation. So far it has provided more than a hundred one-to-one advisory sessions and developed a continuous training programme with technical seminars and regular briefings.

This whole package of measures is an opportunity  for Catalan agri-food companies looking to consolidate or begin their internationalisation. In an increasingly changeable global context, these grants can be a key resource for diversifying markets, consolidating an overseas presence and adapting to the new rules of international trade.