Meet the Trade Commissioner at Scaling Up

The Trade Commissioner Service in Spain and the Canadian Council of Forest Ministers will be participating at Scaling Up 2023. A “Meet the Trade Commissioner” session will be organized on November 6, 2023, 3:00 PM - 5:30 PM EST at the Chateau Laurier hotel. A B2B activity will follow, right before the official opening of the Scaling Up Conference.

This session will be an opportunity for businesses and research organizations to come together to present their technologies and explore synergies with Spanish entities.

Objective: Creating new partnerships for the further development of innovative, cross-border and cross-sectoral industrial value chains in the bioeconomy.

There are numerous opportunities in the market, created by the following: (1) The Spanish forestry bioeconomy activity will continue to grow, as traditional sectors will demand bio-materials and bio-products. (2) The traditional wood sectors have not fully exploited the forest bioeconomy potential in Spain due to the lack of technology. (3) The EU's economic recovery policies are opening opportunities and boosting investment and innovation projects, (4) The changes in taxation and plastic use regulations make the bioeconomy even more relevant and attractive.

The Trade Commissioner Service in Spain has developed a long-term strategy to promote Canadian Technologies and solutions within the Spanish Bioeconomy sector.

In 2021, a fruitful Bilateral Bioeconomy Forum was organized and served as an eye-opener for key players in the sector in both countries.

In 2022, in collaboration with the European Initiative, BioeconomyVentures a pitching event was held in Barcelona. Spanish companies that were not linked to the forest sector are now investing in bio-materials and bio-products and showed willingness to adopt newly developed Canadian technologies.

The Spanish and Canadian markets are actively promoting the bioeconomy at national and regional levels. The whole forestry value chain, as well as bioenergy and other bio-material subsectors, are triggers for economic development and have a great potential for generating added value to the economy.

In Europe, the bio-based sector has now 700 billion EUR turnover and 3.6 million people employed. The Bioeconomy is considered a strategic sector for Spain, focusing attention on the business-led initiatives and on public-private partnerships with innovation from both public and private players.

The event will gather Spanish potential investors, SMEs and large companies, research organisations and technology providers.

The workshop will open with two keynote lectures on the bioeconomy and sustainable forest management giving an overview of the sector in Spain, followed by a pre-arranged B2B session.

Participants will be invited to send a corporate profile in order to organize the B2B meetings based on mutual interest, synergies and objectives. The one-on-one meetings of 15 minutes will allow participants to explore opportunities with new partners or investors.

Each company will have at least four pre-scheduled meetings. Additional space will be provided for spontaneous meetings.

All Canadian participating entities will be allowed to be part of a communication brochure that will be widely disseminated in Spain after the Conference.

Main contact : Eugenia Pérez : eugenia.perezpena@international.gc.ca