On 15 May, 467 young people (244 women and 223 men) competed for one of the 125 internationalization grants (BEINT) offered by the Basque Internationalization Agency for the years 2021-2023. This is the re-launch of this international specialist training program launched by the Basque Government in 1986, which had to be canceled last year.

Candidates have undergone a selection process in the morning and in the afternoon. First, language proficiency and proficiency tests: English (to be excluded), Basque and, if desired, a second foreign language (German, Arabic, Chinese, French, Italian, Portuguese, Russian or Japanese). And then a general test on socio-economic knowledge and two psychotechnical tests.

BEINT training program trajectory

The BEINT program is a unique opportunity for young people under the age of 31 with a high university degree to receive training in internationalization and foreign trade and to start a professional career in high demand in the Basque Country.

The training plan has three well-separated phases, and aims to provide the best possible experience to the fellows, offering them the opportunity to combine theoretical and practical knowledge within 24 months.

The first phase is a four-month university training course specifically designed with fourteen areas of knowledge. In this year's call, the three Basque universities and the Basque Internationalization Agency will offer this course in collaboration. Once this phase has been completed, the fellow has the right to continue with the program and obtain certificates from the universities that have signed the agreement.
In the next twelve months, and thanks to their proven efforts, fellows will have the opportunity to choose a foreign destination and continue their practical training there, serving companies at the Basque Trade & Investment's external network offices, Ofecomes and the International Agency for the Promotion of Foreign Trade. in other agreed offices.

To complete the training course, the trainees will receive eight months of practical experience in companies located abroad and of their choice, preferably in the Basque Country.

At the end of the two-year program, the young graduates will become professionals and will face a full career, many of them fulfilling management responsibilities in jobs that are in high demand on the part of Basque international companies.

In the 2021 call, 80 fellows will complete the three phases of the route between September 2021 and August 2023. Another 45 interns will move directly to the internship phase of the company once the academic phase is over, and will complete the program in August 2022.

Economic conditions

BEINT scholarships will have a budget calculated according to the destination, ranging from 30,000 euros to 60,000 euros. With this budget, the fellows are able to meet their transport, accommodation and maintenance expenses and the permits they have to pay to enter the countries under decent conditions for the duration of the scholarship.

In addition, the fellows have coverage for travel assistance, liability and health care insurance, which includes all possible contingencies, as well as those caused by the pandemics we have been suffering from lately.

Alumni

Another novelty this year is the BEINT program's ALUMNI platform. It is a service aimed at former fellows to allow interaction between the more than 1,300 people who have received this support in the past and to offer a wide range of services: mentoring, interesting information, publishing job offers for profiles within the program, exclusive events, mentoring programs… , an invitation will be issued to the fellows to become members of the ALUMNI platform each year.