Escrivá gives wings to the tech sector and strengthens his ministry through economics and finance | Companies

The announcement by Digital Transformation and Public Services Minister José Luis Escrivá to create a state-owned company to group the state’s technology assets became commonplace on Tuesday in many groups at the Mobile World Congress (MWC). , which is celebrated in Barcelona. It is not for nothing that this is a new organization that will mobilize up to 20 billion euros of European funds. In accordance with …

The announcement by Digital Transformation and Public Services Minister José Luis Escrivá to create a state-owned company to group the state’s technology assets became commonplace on Tuesday in many groups at the Mobile World Congress (MWC). , which is celebrated in Barcelona. It is not for nothing that this is a new organization that will mobilize up to 20 billion euros of European funds. According to various investors present at the conclave, rarely has there been talk of this level of investment in the digital sector in Spain. In addition, the creation of the so-called State Society for Technological Transformation (SETT) will allow Spain to extend the use of European recovery funds over time.

By the way, thanks to public information about the project, Escrivá not only managed to become one of the protagonists of the MWC, but also focused attention on his ministry, a department that seemed doomed to play in the second division of the cabinet. In fact, according to participants, the launch of SETT, due to its ambitions, could cause a shock to the entire technology industry in Spain. However, it is paradoxical that the bulk of the investments made by the former Minister of Social Security were covered at that time by the Ministry of Economy of Nadia Calviño, now headed by Carlos Bodi. The institution is expected to receive the green light from the Council of Ministers next week.

Under the command of Escrivá, already a veteran of Pedro Sánchez’s cabinet, SETT will group ongoing initiatives such as the €12 billion PERTE chip for semiconductors and microelectronics; the NextTech fund with $4 billion to invest in companies with a high level of technological innovation and the Audiovisual Hub fund with $1,700 million for companies in this sector. The first and third plans were born under the auspices of the Ministry of Economy and Digital Transformation, from which in the new government the part of digital transformation was separated and passed into the hands of Escrivá. In turn, the NextTech Fund was a joint initiative of the Official Credit Institute and the Secretary of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence, which with its creation came under the management of Escrivá. In addition, it assumes technology areas that have been dispersed across other government departments.

The relevance of SETT may not stop there. Moreover, it is possible that the Ministry of Economy is not the only ministry that has something to say about Escrivá’s postulates. In effect, this opened the door for a public company to become the government’s vehicle for entry into Telefonica, in a deal that could be worth more than €2,100 million and which represents the government’s return to the operator’s capital following the privatization of 1997. The minister said it would make sense to include this, although he later noted that this will be visible “over time.”

So far, the government’s plans have included entering Telefonica through the State Society for Industrial Participation (SEPI), which is dependent on the Ministry of Finance, led by Maria Jesús Montero, also the first vice-president of the government. There was no indication to the contrary. SEPI has an order from the Council of Ministers to acquire Telefonica shares, up to 10% of the capital, as announced on December 19.

Highlighting Telefonica’s strategic position in areas such as defense and national security, SEPI underscored its desire to remain with the company, which was rocked by the announcement in early September that the Saudi Telecom Company would buy 9.9% of its capital. (STC). “SEPI’s participation will provide Telefonica with greater shareholder stability to enable the company to achieve its objectives and will therefore contribute to maintaining its strategic capabilities,” the state-owned company said.

The announcement of the creation of SETT has already caused different reactions even within the parties of the coalition government. Carlos Martin, Zumara’s economic and finance spokesman, said the creation of SETT was a “very good” initiative, although he added that it was not true. About its digital and affordable housing.”

The Escriva Department took advantage of the second day of Barcelona Mobile to make a new announcement: the new National Office of Entrepreneurship (ONE), an initiative of Red.es, an organization dedicated to digital transformation, as part of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. through the EU Next Generation funds, which provides a web portal with information to promote the promotion functions of the Spanish ecosystem.

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