The Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Spain in Madrid (CCIS) (www.italcamara-es.com) is a Spanish association that was born thanks to both Spanish and Italian entrepreneurs in order to foster their bilateral relationships, above all within the economic field due to the intention of boosting the spirit of entrepreneurship. CCIS is a private and no-profit association which actively works to develop economic relationships in   Europe, especially by promoting bilateral relationships between the Italian and the Spanish markets. Active since 1914 throughout the Spanish territory, CCIS has its headquarters in Madrid, with delegations in   Valencia, Vigo and Seville, and with territorial representations in Burgos, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, La Coruña and Oviedo. CCIS has also been officially recognized by the Italian government since 1970. CCIS contributes to various field related to the European policies and programs, thanks to the presence, within its institutional organization, of a department specialized in European projects, that is supported by those departments which are responsible for the projects’ execution (such as the Training department, the Touristic Office, The Communication department and the Event and Management department. The staff is skilled and responsible for preparing proposals and for the management, development, evaluation and financial reporting of the projects. CCIS is fully integrated into Assocamerestero’s network (www.assocamerestero.it): an association of all the Italian Chambers present abroad, that comprises 78 chambers (all recognized by the Italian government according to the Law 518 July 1970), which have 140 offices in 54 countries and more than 18000 businesses’ members. Assocamerestero is an umbrella organization, for all the Italian Chambers of Commerce Abroad (CCIE), which formally work together to both coordinate activities and pool resources. CCIE’s network collaborates closely; it enables all the chambers to easily find international partners and access studies and country analysis, mainly in the economic sector.  

MAIN ACTIVITY

CCIS promotes and supports the different phases of the internationalization process and business start-ups, by   providing commercial assistance to enterprises, mainly Spanish and Italian ones, through its large international networks. The aim is to support the internationalization and the business in general, thanks to different tools such as mentoring and innovation. CCIS enhances education and training and supports youth’s initiatives related to entrepreneurship too.

Fields:

• Sustainable business development
• Social entrepreneurship
• Tourism and culture
• Traditional agrifood products
• Craft products and manufacturing activities
• ICT
• Innovation Technology
• Women

  Moreover, CCIS develops services and projects focused on SME’s support, as a business incubator and as the main contractor or partner, acting as a facilitator for the market uptake of new businesses, as well as   a   promoter of already well-established economic relations in Europe and in general enhancing the culture of entrepreneurship. Furthermore, in order to order to optimize the information and the assistance services to companies, the chamber performs information functions, market and partners’ research, business consulting, import-export services, documentation, B2B   meetings, marketing, communication, legal service and events organization. It is fundamental to CCIS to increase the capacity and the effective internationalisation, innovation and business start-up of MSMEs. Internationalisation has become the condition for SMEs to survive in a greatly competitive environment. The role of CCIS is to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and the dissemination of good internationalisation programs   that   are   currently   put   into   practice   by   different    European    countries.