RESILIENT growth

Looking to exports as a key pillar of growth and employment, the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism is working closely with all the parties involved to promote further internationalization of the Spanish economy.

During Spain Investors Day, you mentioned internationalization will form part of the solution to the current situation. What plans have you put in place in order to continue supporting the internationalization of Spanish companies?

The Spanish government places internationalization as a priority in its political agenda. In order to this, our plans form part of a 10-year strategy called Strategy for Internationalization of the Spanish Economy 2017-2027, a battery of measures for all organizations and departments with actions in promoting internationalization to work in a coordinated and efficient manner, taking advantage of potential synergies and involving the private sector in the execution of the plan. The best thing for the private sector is to have a stable framework and commitment as a country, since it is a strategy undertaken with public-private cooperation. This strategy must be updated every two years in consultation with different administrations and the private sector. For example, the last period was a scenario marked by Brexit uncertainty and commercial tensions, whereas the current period is marked by COVID-19. As an exception, in 2020 we were forced to launch an additional action plan to support the external sector because there was a significant decline in international commerce, exports, and investments. Therefore, we had to move everything over to virtual formats and make the best use of our economic and sales offices. In addition, we also strengthened our financial tools and international policies. We are currently preparing our Action Plan for the Internationalization of the Spanish Economy2021-2022. Now, the international market forms a large part of the growth strategy of a company, even small businesses. That is extremely important, because it means a culture related to international markets is being consolidated. This strategy involves making the foreign sector a pillar of growth and employment, through the diversification of exports and the establishment of our companies in strategic sectors and destinations, paying attention to the opportunities that may arise from the crisis.

Which factors boosted Spanish export sector growth over 2020?

In the current context of global trade, Spanish companies maintain a solid position within global value chains. For this reason, as soon as the foreign markets activity began to reactivate, the export activity of our companies began gradually their recovery. These solid expectations are also reinforced by the evolution of our target markets. In December 2020, Spain’s exports increased by 0.9% YoY in nominal terms to EUR22.76 billion, more than in December 2019. The export sector has already fully recovered its pre-pandemic level of activity. These data confirm that our export sector has proven to be resilient and extremely competitive in a year marked by an unprecedented health crisis that impacted directly on trade flows.

EUR524 million of European funds will be assigned to SME commercial projects. How will these budgets be distributed in terms of internationalization?

We have a significant budget for internationalization through various financial instruments such as CESCE portfolio and COFIDES funds. Apart from that, new programs will be included aimed at reinforcing the policies and tools that we already have with ICEX and, above all, attracting productive foreign investment, especially in innovative sectors. Namely, we want to reinforce foreign companies’ participation in our country and professional greenfield projects with capital. This process is what we call opening market funds. These are non-refundable funds for feasibility studies and strategic planning so that Spanish companies and other companies from overseas have the opportunity to participate.