Creates the Fund for Business Internationalization (FIEM)

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1. It creates the Fund for the Internationalization of the Enterprise (FIEM), an official financing tool to support the internationalization of Spanish companies, managed by the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade through the Secretary of State for Trade.
2. The Fund promotes exports by Spanish companies and direct Spanish investment abroad. It mainly finances loans, credits and credit lines, and also technical assistance and consulting. It does not finance defense material or basic social services projects such as education, health or nutrition.
3. States, foreign public administrations, public institutions and foreign companies can receive financing, and they must back the operations with a sovereign guarantee. No repayable financing will be given to heavily indebted poor countries, except with exceptional authorization from the Council of Ministers.
4. Operations are approved by a Committee chaired by the Secretary of State for Trade; concessional credits and donations are approved by the Council of Ministers. The Government sends an annual report to the Spanish Parliament (Cortes Generales), and the Secretary of State appears before the Committees of the Congress of Deputies and the Senate.
5. The Official Credit Institute acts as financial agent: it signs the credit, loan or donation agreements and provides the financial services for the operations. The Fund is fed by allocations from the General State Budgets and by returns on the credits granted.
6. The assets and liabilities of the former Development Aid Fund (FAD) are transferred to the FIEM, except those attributable to other Ministries. If a company breaks the financing conditions, it may have to return the amounts received and can be barred from FIEM aid for up to five years.

Who it affects

• Spanish companies that export or invest abroad: They can access official FIEM financing for their projects, and must certify compliance with international agreements on corporate responsibility, labor rights and gender equality.
• Foreign states and administrations: They can be beneficiaries of the Fund's credits and loans, usually with a sovereign guarantee.
• Official Credit Institute (Instituto de Crédito Oficial): It acts as the Fund's financial agent and signs the agreements on behalf of the State.
• Congress of Deputies and Senate: They receive an annual report on the Fund's operations and the Secretary of State for Trade appears before their committees.
• Spanish Export Credit Insurance Company (CESCE): State-backed export credit insurance must be analyzed according to the debt level of the destination country.

Words worth knowing

Garantía soberana (sovereign guarantee)

A guarantee given by a country's own State as backing for the repayment of a loan.

Crédito concesional (concessional credit)

A loan with more favorable terms than the market, such as lower interest or a longer repayment period.

Financiación reembolsable (repayable financing)

Money that must be paid back, unlike donations, which do not have to be returned.

Países HIPC (HIPC countries)

Heavily indebted poor countries, from the English initials of that international initiative.

Fondo sin personalidad jurídica (fund without legal personality)

Money earmarked for a specific purpose that is not a separate legal entity, but is managed within the Administration.

It summarizes the law as published in the BOE. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries