The Diplomat
The president of the Exporters Club, Antonio Bonet, warned yesterday of the need to strengthen the competitiveness of Spanish companies in foreign markets by lowering the “costs derived from the regulatory environment”.
“To continue growing in foreign markets, our companies have to differentiate themselves by quality, brand, design, service, but they also have to be competitive in price,” Bonet said during the ceremony of the Internationalization Awards 2021, which was held in Madrid in the presence of the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto.
“All internationalized companies, both Spanish and from other countries, are suffering cost increases, such as energy or transport,” he continued. “But there are other costs that affect only our companies, such as those derived from the regulatory environment, and I am referring, in particular, to taxes and Social Security contributions,” he warned.
According to Bonet, the export data for the period January-September 2021, with a sales volume of 230 billion euros, are an example of the effort being made by Spanish companies to overcome the economic impact of COVID-19 and to be “spearheads” to “lead our country out of the crises, as they did during the financial crisis of 2008”. Internationalized companies, he said, are “more resistant to changes in the economic situation, more competitive and generate higher quality employment”.
Likewise, the president of the Exporters Club was pleased that the National Plan for Recovery, Transformation and Resilience, with European Next Generation funds, contemplates resources to increase the number of regular exporters, both directly and indirectly, and to increase official support for export financing. “This is very good news, because we need to bring ourselves in line with our EU competitors,” he added.
The Internationalization Awards 2021 have distinguished this year the companies Acciona and Grupo Premo and the Network of Spanish Economic and Commercial Offices Abroad. José Manuel Entrecanales, Chairman of Acciona, was in charge of collecting the award given to his company in the category Large Spanish Company with an outstanding international projection. Claudio Cañete, Business Development Director, collected the award on behalf of the Premo Group, winner of the Award to the SME with an outstanding international projection. In addition, in the category of Official or institution of special relevance for the internationalization of Spanish companies, it was the Minister Reyes Maroto herself who received the award for the Network of Spanish Economic and Commercial Offices Abroad.
