The Exporters' Club calls for internationalisation policies to be prioritised
The Spanish Exporters and Investors Club is calling on the authorities to prioritise business internationalisation policies in view of the decline in merchandise exports in 2020.
"In just 12 months we have gone back almost four years," says Antonio Bonet, president of the Exporters' Club, after it was announced that Spanish exports of goods totalled 261,175.5 million euros last year, 10% less than in the previous year, which is the worst year-on-year record since 2009.
"Exports performed very well between 2010 and 2019, although in recent years their growth had slowed down; but the fall in exports in 2020 means returning to levels close to those of 2016," explains Antonio Bonet.
The reduction in exports of goods in Spain (-10.0%) has been greater than that of exports in the euro area as a whole (-9.1%) and in countries such as Germany (-9.3%) and Italy (-9.7%), although it has been less than in France (-16.3%) or the United Kingdom (-14.6%).
"We are concerned that a tenth of goods exports have been lost, especially because in the short term competition in international markets is going to be very high and it does not seem likely that we will soon recover the lost ground", adds Antonio Bonet.
"However, the fact that exports increased by almost 1% in December is an indication that the foreign sector could contribute in 2021 to the economic recovery of our country," says Antonio Bonet.
In this context, and to strengthen the international dynamism of Spanish companies, the Exporters and Investors Club calls on the Government to give greater importance to business internationalisation in the various initiatives it has recently launched, such as the Plan for the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience of the Spanish Economy and the Foreign Action Strategy 2021-2024.
"A state policy on internationalisation is needed to revitalise the foreign sector as an engine of growth for the Spanish economy", says Antonio Bonet.
On a positive note, the Exporters and Investors Club points to the 4.1% increase in the number of regular exporters in 2020 (those who have exported goods consecutively for at least the last four years), to 55,133 companies.
However, the Exporters' Club considers that this is still a relatively small figure considering the size of the Spanish economy and its potential for internationalisation. "Just 500 companies are responsible for more than 55% of total Spanish exports of goods," says Antonio Bonet.
The Spanish Exporters and Investors Club is a multi-sector business association whose objective is to represent and defend the interests of Spanish companies with international activity. The worldwide turnover of the Club's members is equivalent to 20% of Spain's GDP. They have around 800,000 employees and their investments abroad represent 40% of Spanish investment stock abroad.