The Exporters' Club urges companies to strengthen their competitiveness abroad
The president of the Exporters' Club, Antonio Bonet, stressed at the Internationalisation Awards 2021 ceremony, which was held this Thursday in Madrid in the presence of the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, the need to strengthen the competitiveness of Spanish companies in foreign markets by reducing the "costs arising from the regulatory environment", such as taxes and Social Security contributions.
"To continue growing in foreign markets, our companies have to differentiate themselves in terms of quality, brand, design and service, but they also have to be competitive in terms of price. All internationalised companies, both Spanish and from other countries, are suffering cost increases, such as energy and transport costs. But there are other costs that only affect our companies, such as those derived from the regulatory environment, and I am referring specifically to taxes and social security contributions", stressed the president of the Exporters' Club.
Bonet stressed that the export figures for the period January-September 2021, with a turnover of 230,000 million 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 crisis, as they did during the financial crisis of 2008".
In this regard, he recalled that the interest of a country like Spain in having internationalised companies lies in the fact that they are organisations that are "more resistant to changes in the economic situation, more competitive and generate higher quality employment".
The president of the Exporters' Club welcomed the fact that the National Plan for Recovery, Transformation and Resilience, with European Next Generation funds, envisages allocating resources to help increase the number of regular exporters, both directly and indirectly, and that resources will be earmarked to increase official support for export financing.
"This is very good news, because we need to get in line with our EU competitors," he said.
Awards to Acciona, the Premo Group and the Network of Spanish Economic and Commercial Offices abroad.
This year's Internationalisation Awards 2021 have distinguished the companies Acciona and Grupo Premo and the Network of Spanish Economic and Commercial Offices Abroad.
José Manuel Entrecanales, Chairman of Acciona, accepted the award given to his company in the category: "Large Spanish Company with an outstanding international projection". Internationalisation has enabled the company to position itself as a "world reference in infrastructures, water, renewable energies and services", Bonet recalled in his speech.
Claudio Cañete, Business Development Director, collected the award on behalf of the Premo Group, winner of the Award for the SME with an outstanding international projection. Premo is a Malaga-based company created in 1962 and specialised in the manufacture of automotive electronic components for major Japanese, European and American brands. Currently, 96% of the group's turnover comes from international business. In recent years, the company has invested heavily in R&D&I to supply electric and hybrid vehicles.
In the category of "Official or institution of special relevance for the internationalisation of Spanish companies", it was the Minister of Industry, Reyes Maroto, who received the award for the Network of Spanish Economic and Commercial Offices Abroad, which has been forced to reinvent itself over the last year to continue providing support to companies, especially SMEs.