US multinational VMware, which specialises in innovation in programming for businesses, has announced it will invest 100 million dollars (€88.6m) over five years to set up a European sales center in Barcelona's 22@ business district.
The new facilities will initially create 120 jobs, which will later rise to 250, with the investment part of VMware strategic plan to develop and foster technological talent in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Talking to the Catalan News Agency (ACN), business minister Àngels Chacón welcomed the announcement as good news for Catalonia: "We are very happy about the confidence placed in us," she said.
It is projects like this, according to Chacón, that help Catalonia to establish itself as a "pole of attraction for foreign investment" that is linked to new technology, with the country accounting for 40% of this type of investment in Spain.
VMware's innovation center, which will be headed by Angus McGeachie, will allow the company to provide clients with better advice while broadening the professional perspectives of its employees, according to the company.