Cesce and Alstom sign a strategic agreement to promote green exports

2 mins read

Cesce, the Spanish Export Credit Agency, and Alstom have signed a strategic agreement to promote exports in green projects and sustainable mobility initiatives for rail.

L-R: Leopoldo Maestu, managing director of Alstom in Spain and Portugal, Fernando Salazar, executive chairman of Cesce, and Anneli Carlot, Alstom vice president treasury and financing
L-R: Leopoldo Maestu, managing director of Alstom in Spain and Portugal, Fernando Salazar, executive chairman of Cesce, and Anneli Carlot, Alstom vice president treasury and financing

The agreement also seeks to strengthen and consolidate the Spanish railway industry, in which Alstom is a key player with more than 3,000 employees in Spain and with a local procurement volume of nearly €700 million in the last fiscal year.

The alliance will allow Alstom to structure the financing of its foreign operations in a more flexible way in terms of purchasing decisions and supplier designation.

The agreement provides for an overall annual maximum of €500m and will be reviewed on a yearly basis, depending on the evolution of employment levels, investment, and exports of Alstom Group companies in Spain.

Agreement scope focuses on green operations, in line with Cesce’s climate change policy, the importance of promoting sustainable mobility initiatives and the need to boost digitalization and sector transformation for a decarbonized future.

Transactions can be submitted for countries classified in country risk categories up to five as per the OECD Country Risk Classification, provided that the projects qualify as Green according to the UE’s Taxonomy.

To reach and execute this agreement, Alstom’s current industrial presence in Spain, its commitment to local quality employment, its impact on Spanish exports (more than 50% of Alstom’s activity in Spain is dedicated to exports), its R&D local capacity and, in general, its leadership in the mobility sector have all been taken into consideration.

In total, the group has more than 1,000 suppliers in Spain, from consultancies and engineering companies to design studios, equipment manufacturers, professional service providers and electronic systems suppliers, among others.

Under the agreement, Cesce will assess the issuance of guarantees for the long-term financing of Alstom’s green projects in third countries. These guarantees will be provided through the Buyer Credit Insurance Policy, with a maximum annual envelope of €500 million.

By signing this agreement, which strengthens the links and collaboration between the two entities, Cesce has begun to materialize alliances with strategic companies with a significant industrial presence in Spain. In this way, it promotes internationalization, exporting, employment and the implementation of sustainable projects, supporting its objective of growth in green sectors to fight against climate change.

Alstom has a long history of innovation and commitment to the Spanish economic and industrial development, being a major player in the mobility sector in the country. The company employs more than 3,000 people in Spain, within five industrial centers, four technology centers and it is present in more than 20 depots.

Among others, Alstom has an industrial plant in Barcelona dedicated to the manufacture of all types of trains, a propulsion systems factory in Vizcaya and, in Madrid, different technological and innovation centers for the development of projects in the fields of railway safety, signaling, maintenance and digital mobility.