The B-WOMENIN Global “Meeting & Expanding 2024” program returned to Bilbao on Wednesday, November 20, with its fifth session. Promoted by the Basque Trade & Investment (BasqueTrade) agency for the internationalization of Basque companies, part of the SPRI Group, the main objective of this initiative is to strengthen and make visible the role that women play in the expansion of business projects to international markets.

Under the title “The female impetus for new projects”, the session presented inspiring cases of female entrepreneurs who have broken barriers and taken their projects to the global stage. On this occasion, Marta Prado Larburu, co-founder and CEO of INCOTRANS and DS4T, Marta Cantabrana, founding partner and CEO of 3C Metrology, and Matxalen Uriarte, founder and CEO of UNIVERSAL OMICS, participated in the initiative, sharing their knowledge on how to identify opportunities in global markets, innovate in their sectors and lead projects.

In addition to examining the challenges and lessons learned on the path to entrepreneurship, the conference highlighted the importance of developing key skills, such as resilience, adaptation and the ability to manage change. With this approach, the program aims to highlight the impact of women in the creation and leadership of business projects, as well as encourage other women to take on leadership roles in any sector and region of the world.

This fifth session joins the four previous sessions of the B-WOMENIN Global “Meeting & Expanding 2024” cycle. In these, the challenges and opportunities for building an international career, the development of transversal competencies and different ways of doing business in international contexts were addressed, among others.

Basque Trade & Investment

A public company within the SPRI Group, created by the merger of SPRI's international services and the Internationalization Directorate of the Department of Economic Development and Infrastructure of the Basque Government. Its aim is to be more flexible and agile in order to provide a better service to Basque companies, strengthened by the synergies that will inevitably arise from bringing all services together in a single entity.

They have been working for over 20 years, helping to develop business projects that intend to internationalize, regardless of their sector.

It is a tailor-made service that promotes the exports and internationalization of companies, promotes activities aimed at positioning them in strategic markets, provides the technical support necessary for commercial and production implementations, and supports projects financed by multilateral organizations.

This service model provides segmented attention to companies, combining the sectoral knowledge we have in our offices in the Basque Country with the geographical knowledge we have in our offices abroad. This allows us to offer specialized and closer attention and services that respond to the specific needs of companies.

Services for exporting companies

The new service portfolio is adapted to the needs of the company and is segmented according to the company profiles. A new model that combines own skills and those of collaborating agents.

Competitive intelligence

• Identification and assessment of opportunities.
• Segmented information on priority sectors and the ability to enter local value chains.
• Market intelligence: Country sheets / CIVEX / Comparative studies of markets of interest.
• Multilateral tenders.
• Connection to the EU.

Internationalization consultancy

• Organization of missions.
• Presentation at trade fairs.
• Assistance.
• Creation of agendas.
• Analysis of company competitors.
• Search for distributors and commercial channels.
• Identification of suppliers and services.
• Identification of customers.
• Support for regulations.
• Information on customs procedures.
• Assistance in registering a trademark. Product or service approval.
• Legal advice.
• Research on local companies.
• Corporate diplomacy.
• International soft landing.
• Assistance with relocations and returns.
• Search for allies, partners and companies for acquisitions.
• Search for target consortia.
• International negotiation and mediation.
• Creation of geographical / sectoral service platforms.
• Study Trips.

Human resources

• Assistance in finding employees.
• Shared professionals.
• Acquisition of highly qualified people.
• International scholarships.