The Exporters' Club calls for structural reforms to enable the foreign sector to cope with the increased international competition arising from the pandemic

The Exporters and Investors Club has urged the adoption of structural economic reforms that will reactivate the international competitiveness of Spanish companies, so that they can face up to the increased competition in foreign markets resulting from the reduction in world trade as a result of the COVID-19 health crisis.

The fact that exports of goods in the second quarter of 2020 experienced the worst year-on-year performance ever recorded in the historical series is, in the opinion of the Exporters' Club, a powerful wake-up call for major decisions to be taken by the government. 

According to data released by the Secretary of State for Trade, Spanish goods exports fell by 27.7% in the second quarter of the year, with a 9.2% drop in June. 

These poor figures are set against a backdrop of sharp contraction in world trade, which the WTO estimates at -18.5% between April and June. In the light of these figures, the president of the Exporters' Club, Antonio Bonet, has warned that "Spain is losing market share at world level".

In his opinion, international trade will not recover in 2021 the levels of 2019 and, as a result, competition will become more acute both from countries whose productive fabric has been less affected than Spain's and from countries whose companies have received more public aid than Spanish ones.

"In the previous crisis, the Spanish foreign sector emerged as the driving force behind economic recovery. We would like the same to happen now, but the international context is very adverse", said Antonio Bonet.

Given this panorama, the Exporters' Club is calling for far-reaching structural reforms, which will contribute to revitalising the international competitiveness of Spanish companies. For example, it considers it necessary to encourage an increase in the size of SMEs and to undertake a reform of the educational system to orientate it towards the needs of companies in a global market. It also considers it a priority not to increase company taxation or to tighten up the labour framework.

On a positive note, the Exporters' Club stated that the number of regular exporters in the first half of the year remained stable compared to the same period in 2019, despite the notable drop in the volume of exports.

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 activities. The worldwide turnover of the Club's members is equivalent to 20% of the Spanish GDP. They have around 800,000 employees and their investments abroad represent 40% of the stock of Spanish investment abroad.