Basque Country Technology Parks closed 2013 with 425 companies, 15,000 employees and a turnover of 3,634 million

• Business at the Alava, Bizkaia and Guipuzkoa Technology Parks in 2013 produced 4.9% of the GDP, 4.3% of employment and 5.3% of revenue.

The Alava, Bizkaia and Guipuzkoa Technology Parks and the Garaia Innovation Pole closed the 2013 financial year with 425 businesses installed in the parks, 15,023 employees and a combined turnover of 3,634 million Euros. These figures are slightly lower than the previous year, as regards the number of businesses (5 fewer) and turnover (3% lower), but with a small increase in the combined workforce (32 more employees).

Although the total number of installed businesses fell slightly, it should be noted that there was a significant number of new businesses, and the targets established for the financial year were surpassed: last year 30 new businesses were installed in the parks, 16 in Bizkaia, 6 in Guipuzkoa, 4 in Alava and the rest at the Garaia Innovation Pole.

In 2013, businesses located in the Basque Country Technology Parks spent 425 million Euros on R&D, almost 12% of the total turnover. The number of individuals working on R&D came to 4,828, equivalent to 32% of the total staff.

R&D expenditure by the businesses located in the Basque Technology Parks amounts to 34% of the total expenditure on R&D in the Basque Country and 45% of the total business expenditure.

With respect to the business sectors, the ICT sector leads the way with 27%, followed by R&D at 19%, Electronics at 12%, Aeronautics at 11% and Biosciences at 9%. (Workforce percentages)

The Alava Technology Park, the Bizkaia Science and Technology Park, the Guipuzkoa Science and Technology Park, and the Garaia Pole of Innovation have more than 754 thousand square metres of buildings, of which 589 thousand belong to the businesses and 165 thousand belong to the Parks. The occupation rates of the buildings owned by the Parks and leased to companies and Technology Centres is 61%. The occupation rate of the Technology Parks was reduced by the inclusion, in terms of the number of constructed square metres, of the new infrastructures developed by the Parks, for example the UPV/EHU Headquarters and the Biophysical Unit buildings which have yet to come into operation.

Impact Study

The Basque Country Technology Parks have conducted an impact study of the activity conducted in the parks on the Autonomous Community of Euskadi. Last year the activity conducted by the Alava, Bizkaia and Guipuzkoa Technology Parks produced 4.9% of the GDP of the Autonomous Community of Euskadi, 4.3 % of the employment, and 5.3% of the revenue.

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Assessment: The President of the Basque Country Technology Parks, José Miguel Corres stated that the Technology Parks have kept business at almost the same level as in previous years, which is excellent news given how difficult 2013 has been. “There has been a slight decrease in the number of businesses, this is not good news, but on the positive side, 30 new businesses have been installed, demonstrating that we are returning to the dynamics of earlier years and this is a good sign.” Moreover, Corres confirmed that in 2014 the Basque Country Technology Parks would increase the offer of space for the creation of new businesses, with the establishment of two new incubation infrastructures in Bizkaia and Guipuzkoa.