100 young people set to leave in January for their work destination abroad thanks to the Basque Government’s BEINT internationalisation grants

• This morning, the ministers Arantxa Tapia and Jokin Bildarratz handed over the 100 accreditations issued by the Basque Internationalisation Agency-Basque Trade & Investment of the SPRI Group

• A new call for applications will be opened during the first quarter of 2023 

100 young people are set to leave in January to work abroad thanks to the BEINT internationalisation grants awarded by the Basque Government with the dual aim of training new talent in internationalisation and foreign trade so that they can respond to the needs of Basque companies and organisations. This is the 36th anniversary of a programme that was created in 1986 and which enjoys enormous international prestige.

20 of these people will begin their internships with companies, preferably Basque companies established abroad, and 80 in Offices of the Basque Trade & Investment Foreign Network, Spanish Economic and Commercial Offices abroad or other organisations promoting internationalisation in 45 countries in Africa, America, Asia and Europe.

The Minister for Economic Development, Sustainability and the Environment, Arantxa Tapia, and the Minister for Education, Jokin Bildarratz, presented the 100 accreditations this morning at a ceremony held at the BEC in Barakaldo, attended by the 100 young scholarship holders and their families, as well as the Deputy Minister for Industry, Mikel Amundarain, and Ainhoa Ondarzabal, Director of Basque Trade & Investment.

In 2021, an agreement was signed between the Basque Internationalisation Agency-Basque Trade & Investment of the SPRI Group with the University of the Basque Country (EHU-UPV), the University of Deusto and Mondragon Unibertsitatea, thus combining the BEINT scholarship programme with the best of the knowledge and training methodologies of each of the three Basque universities in this field.

Agreement with the three Basque universities

The aim of this agreement is to generate an ecosystem that will provide the young beneficiaries of the BEINT scholarship programme with quality training that will help them to be aware of the reality and rules of international trade, the Basque economic fabric and its institutions and companies, as well as the necessary skills in the management of multi-localised companies and international purchases and sales.

In this way, the SPRI Group and Basque Trade & Investment continue to support these scholarships 100%, managing the selection process and coordinating the training itinerary, and the universities, each with their own methodology and knowledge, evaluate the performance of the BEINT programme scholarship holders, each of them in the part of the training itinerary that corresponds to them; and award and recognise the university credits to which the BEINT programme scholarship holders are entitled.

BEINT Scholarships

Every year, around one hundred young people under the age of 30 apply for one of the BEINT scholarships, which aim to train new talents in internationalisation so that they can respond to the needs of Basque companies and organisations. BEINT scholarships are a unique opportunity for young people with a university degree to train in internationalisation and foreign trade. The extensive programme includes obtaining their own reference degree, 12 months of practical training in the offices of the Basque Trade & Investment Foreign Network, Spanish Economic and Commercial Offices abroad or other organisations that promote internationalisation and, finally, an 8-month stay in companies, preferably Basque companies, located around the world.

The employability rates of this tool for the internationalisation of new talent are practically full after 36 years of existence.

This initiative is led by Basque Trade & Investment – Basque Agency for Internationalisation, integrated into Grupo SPRI, and consists of three phases. The first stage consists of a set of 14 training modules distributed among the three Basque universities and taught at each of their respective campuses in Bilbao. Altogether, 43 university credits are completed and each of the universities awards a degree. Throughout this face-to-face and online training, students learn about the rules and reality of international trade, the Basque economic fabric and the skills needed to manage multi-localised companies.

The scholarship holders who pass this first phase go on to a second phase consisting of 12 months of practical training in entities supporting internationalisation. These internships will be carried out in the network of offices of the Basque Internationalisation Agency, as well as in Spanish Economic and Commercial Offices abroad.

From 2021, TPE, the European Association of Internationalisation Promotion Agents and the Flemish and Greek Economic Development Agencies will also be incorporated as destinations where some of the trainees will be able to complete their training itinerary. In this way, the young participants are able to broaden their knowledge by choosing destinations in more than 40 countries on different continents.

The last phase of the BEINT scholarships consists of professional internships in internationalised companies, preferably Basque ones. The young scholarship holders who reach this stage of the programme perfect their skills and knowledge of foreign trade in a real business environment. These internships are also an opportunity to access job opportunities abroad, since about half of the participants in previous editions have continued working in these companies after completing the programme.

BEINT scholarships are aimed at young people under 30 years of age, residents of the Basque Country who have a university degree and a high level of English. The programme has been running for 36 years and during this time nearly 1,900 young people have been trained in internationalisation and foreign trade. Although it is open to all university degrees, the most common qualifications of the participants are Business Administration, Engineering and Law. This year, the Basque Government has allocated 4.6 million euros to this initiative.