Spanish for business and career oportunities
Spanish provides access to the most important free trade zones in the world
Today’s globalised world increasingly requires a workforce with highly portable skills. A working knowledge of a truly international language such as Spanish might become, for many, the only indisputably portable skill – one that will work in any country, in any discipline/area, under different working conditions.
For English speakers who frequently relocate to other English-speaking countries, Spanish is the key foreign language to add to their portfolios. In 2008, more than 33% of the jobs advertised in the UK which explicitly mentioned a language listed or required Spanish – compared to French in just 22%. In the United States the figure rose to 71%, with Japanese a poor second at 6%.
Spanish is one of the languages most in demand at schools in the developed countries. Members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), including Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States, actively promote the teaching and learning of Spanish.
Spanish is the language of emergent Latin American economies in the Pacific Rim. Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Central American countries and Mexico share economic interests with Asia Pacific countries.
UK trade with Spanish speaking countries is ever expanding
The jobs of many British can be attributed to foreign investment. Many people work in firms with majority foreign ownership. Many more work in firms and communities that rely on foreignowned companies as customers and suppliers of goods and services.
Research suggests that for every 5–6 per cent increase in investment, gross domestic product (GDP) increases by 1–2 per cent.
Spanish is a language of international trade. It provides access to the most important free trade zones in the world: through Spain to the EEC, through Mexico to NAFTA and through Latin America to APEC The Latin American region is the second fastest growing economy in the world. Other significant trade agreements in the region, such as Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) and the Group of Three (G3), comprising Mexico, Venezuela and Colombia alone create a market opportunity for the UK of some 350 million consumers.
Brazil, the ‘sleeping giant’ of Latin America, could lead a South American Free Trade Zone as a counterbalance to NAFTA. Moreover, the recently proposed Americas Free Trade Area, or AFTA, which will encompass the entire American continent, from Canada to Chile, is a clear indication of where US trade interests may lie in the future. Doing business in Spain
With a population of 46 million and a developed sophisticated market, Spain offers UK companies a variety of opportunities.
Spain joined the EU in 1985 and since then has been one of the principle recipients of EU Structural and Cohesion funding. Spain has the world’s 8th largest economy. It has grown rapidly in the last 30 years and become a highly developed and competitive market with global companies.
The UK and Spain are major trade and investment partners. Spain is the UK’s 7th largest export market, and the UK is Spain’s 5th largest supplier. It enjoys a long-standing and wide-ranging bilateral relationship with the UK . The UK is the 2nd largest foreign investor in Spain. Spain is now one of the leading investors in the UK. Spain and the UK are major trade and investment partners.
What are the opportunities?
Spain is a highly developed, competitive market. The Spanish government is committed to opening up the Spanish market further and has embarked on an extensive privatisation programme. Despite the economic downturn, there are strong opportunities in the renewable energy, automotive, aerospace, ICT and healthcare.
Doing business in Latin America
Business negotiations between the EU and Latin America have been frozen since 2004, yet even so The EU is currently Latin America’s second biggest trading partner and the biggest investor in the region. In 2000-2009 the EU’s exports to Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) grew from 59bn euro (£50bn; $73bn) to 66bn, while imports grew from 54bn to 74bn, official EU data shows. Just over 6% of all the EU’s external goods trade is with the LAC.
In May 2010 The European Govt. eased sanctions on doing business with Latin America, meaning that EU negotiations with the Mercosur trade bloc (embracing Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) will soon reopen granting vastly increased business opportunities with these areas. Trade deals were also reached with Central America, Peru and Colombia.
A highly skilled and multilingual workforce is essential for the economic prosperity of the UK
The Demand for Spanish in Europe
The 2005 edition of the European Commission document Key Data on Teaching Languages at School in Europe contains a statistical snapshot and an analysis of the situation of foreign languages teaching in the continent referred mainly to the academic year 2001-2002. The document acknowledges that “in most countries, languages other than English, French, German, Spanish and Russian account for a very small proportion of all languages learnt. In other words, in the great majority of European countries, pupils learn first and foremost – indeed almost exclusively – major languages used on a broad scale”.
Spanish is the fourth most widely taught foreign language in European schools, after English, German and French. “Spanish is taught essentially in general upper secondary education and in the EU-15 countries” Although the proportion of students who learn Spanish is generally around 10% or lower, in some countries it is significantly higher: Denmark (20.8 %), France (56 %), Luxembourg (26.4 %) and Sweden (29 %).
Taking all the levels of secondary education together, the countries where Spanish is more often studied as a foreign language are:
France, Sweden, United Kingdom, Denmark, Luxembourg, Ireland, Belgium fr, Germany Austria, Italy & Portugal
Source: http://www.eurydice.org/Documents/KDLANG/2005/EN/FrameSet.htm
85% of all Spanish students in Europe are located in France, the United Kingdom and Germany. Spanish enrolments are growing even in countries where enrolments in foreign languages are in decline:
“[At undergraduate level in Britain] a serious decline can be traced in [all languages], with the sole exception of Spanish, whose popularity has risen, perhaps because of its obvious functional value as Spanish speaking resorts offer prime holiday destinations.”
- Spanish Multilinguism
- Spanish for Personal development
- Spanish for business and career oportunities
- Hispanic Culture
- Spanish is the language for travel and hospitality
