Today in Barcelona, Repsol Chairman Antonio Brufau presented the document "Spain, enterprises and exports" which was prepared by the Business Council for Competitiveness (CEC). The event was held at the Casa Llotja de Mar and presented by Miquel Valls, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, and it included speeches from Salvador Tous, Honorary Chairman of Tous, Marc Puig, Chairman and CEO of Puig, and Fernando Casado, Director of the CEC.
In line with the findings of the report "Spain, a country of opportunities" presented in April, Brufau highlighted the "Spanish economy's capacity to return to a robust path of sustainable growth" as detailed in the document Spain, enterprises and imports. Repsol's Chairman noted that "the steps taken since the onset of the crisis have put the Spanish economy in the best possible position compared to European economies with similar or even lesser imbalances".
Brufau recapped the main international policies that have enabled this favourable performance from the Spanish economy which, he explained, consisted of "restructuring and reorganising our banking system, adjusting unitary labour costs compared to other European Union countries and the subsequent boost to 2 competitiveness, and implementing structural reforms aimed at increasing the internal flexibility of the economy".
Repsol's Chairman also noted that "there are still challenges pending", such as the "necessary institutional advancement" of the European Union and "formalising the Banking Union and a European Treasury". On the domestic front, Brufau noted that Spain is "capable of enterprise and exporting" and that "in just six years, and coinciding with the crisis in the international markets of advanced economies, sales of goods and
services abroad have grown from 25% of GDP to 32%, in line with exporting economies".
The Spanish economy starts down the road to recovery
In line with the findings of the report Spain, a country of opportunities presented in April, the CEC confirms our country's good economic prospects. It has launched a tour of 11 cities to disseminate the document Spain, enterprises and exports, which details the strengths underpinning the Spanish economy's reliability and solvency.
According to the study presented today in Barcelona, the dynamism of the exporting sector, the global cyclical upswing and the reforms undertaken since the start of the crisis have all made it possible for the Spanish economy to reach a turning point during the second quarter of this year. In this context, indicators support this improvement
with forecasts of positive growth during the third quarter of the year gradually accelerating in 2014 to reach an increase of around 1%.
According to the report, the difference from previous years lies in domestic demand, particularly consumption and investment in capital goods, which will show positive growth rates for the first time since the crisis began, impacting job creation during the second half of next year.
Catalonia, one of the regions with the most outward‐looking economy
During his speech Antonio Brufau reflected on Catalonia as one of the autonomous regions that is "most sharply focused abroad". Brufau commented that "although the Catalan business sector as a whole has a strong bias towards companies without employees or micro‐enterprises, Catalonia also has a greater proportion of industrial companies specialised in high and medium‐high intensity technology activities and advanced services for companies and the knowledge economy".
Repsol's Chairman claimed that Catalonia is relatively well‐positioned compared to the Spanish average in terms of "the financing structure of companies, one of the points that the crisis has highlighted as key in today's world".
Laying the foundations for recovery
According to the findings of the study presented today, the global economy is progressing at a different rate. On one hand, turmoil is abating in emerging countries, although there are still pending structural reforms. Recovery is underway in the US, and the Eurozone is coming out of the recession, although progress remains to be made on the banking and tax union.
In its report, the CEC highlights two positive aspects for recovery that differentiate Spain from most developed countries in this growth environment: first, an intense agenda of reforms, described as commendable by different organisations; and second, record levels of foreign trade that have allowed it to revert its external accounts to a
clear surplus.
Another notable factor is having changed from a model largely based on the construction sector, with its low added value, labour intensiveness and low internationalisation, to a model based on high added value sectors with highly qualified personnel such as the car industry, biotechnology, machinery tools, ITCs, the aerospace industry and the agricultural industry in all its aspects.
These sectors have great potential and account for over one‐third of the national GDP and over 40% of exports. They employ more than 2 million professionals and work intensively on innovation, spending three times more on R&D than all other sectors of the economy.
Large Spanish multinational companies with experience and leadership in key global sectors must use the "bandwagon effect" to help Spanish SMEs take the leap onto the international market, particularly in the areas mentioned above where the potential for growth is high.
To achieve this it is important for these companies to grow, as their size is directly related to their tendency to export: while nine of every 10 SMEs with more than 250 employees exports, this percentage drops to 2% in small companies with fewer than 10 employees.
In its conclusions, the CEC stresses that to complete the foundations that strengthen economic recovery it is essential to have a reformist public sector across the board and that the better credit prospects for SMEs really come to fruition after the intense banking adjustments have been made.
The CEC considers it key to complete the reform of the Public Administration in order to gain efficiency, in addition to domestic market reforms to facilitate business activity throughout the country. It also puts special emphasis on reforms to the tax and education systems, recommending special efforts to improve secondary education,
which is partly responsible for high youth unemployment rates.
In short, with this study the CEC wants to highlight the importance of the following for the Spanish economy:
- Increasing exports and productive investment.
- Maintaining momentum in reforming the public sector, even though the
foundations are set for Spanish companies to be competitive and innovative.
- Highlighting that the recession is behind us thanks to all of our efforts,
particularly those of families and businesses.
About the Business Council for Competitiveness (CEC)
The Business Council for Competitiveness (CEC), created in February 2011, comprises 15 companies and the Family Business Institute. The companies included in the Business Council employ over 1.7 million people and their turnover is equivalent to 35% of the Spanish GDP. The CEC is a think tank that combines commitments and efforts to offer proposals to improve competitiveness, help with economic recovery and strengthen international confidence in Spain.
Businesses of the Business Council for Competitiveness: Acciona, ACS, Banco Santander, BBVA, El Corte Inglés, Ferrovial, Grupo Planeta, Iberdrola, Inditex, "la Caixa", Mango, MAPFRE, Mercadona, Repsol and Telefónica.
Family Business Institute represented by: Grupo Barceló, Havas Media Group and Osborne.
