The president of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE), Antonio Garamendi, highlighted this Wednesday that internationalization "is key to generating sustained and sustainable economic growth, productivity and quality employment" and to promote the way out of the crisis economic derived from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Antonio Garamendi has expressed himself in these terms during the IV Internationalization Summit, organized by the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, CEOE, the Leading Spanish Brands Forum, the Spanish Exporters and Investors Club and the Spanish Association of Directors. This meeting has counted, among others, with the participation of King Felipe VI and the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Reyes Maroto.
Antonio Garamendi has praised the "evident work" of the Crown abroad in favor of the Spanish company and has also appreciated the role of the Ministry of Industry to advance in internationalization. "When we go abroad, the most important thing is that Spain is at the top and we are proud of that", declared the CEOE president.
In his speech, he underlined the need to continue promoting training, digitization, investment in innovation and public-private collaboration. Likewise, it has called not to adopt fiscal measures that harm the business fabric, as well as to guarantee institutional trust and stability at all times ”.
The CEOE president spoke at a round table accompanied by the presidents of the Spanish Association of Directors, Juan Carlos Gallego; from the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, José Luis Bonet; the Spanish Exporters and Investors Club, Antonio Bonet, and the Forum of Renowned Spanish Brands, Ignacio Osborne. Said panel has been moderated by the CEO of ICEX, María Peña.
Prestige of the Spanish company
For his part, the King has indicated that "these are being difficult times", although he has affirmed that "good public-private collaboration will allow the implementation of measures to preserve the Spanish productive fabric." Similarly, he has valued the "capacity for sacrifice" of Spanish entrepreneurs and freelancers, indicating that, abroad, "I see how they respect you and how difficult it is to build prestige in the face of sometimes relentless competition".
Previously, the Minister of Industry has defended that "excellence and openness are two attributes of the Spain Brand", and explained that "from the Government we are going to continue alongside companies to support their internationalization", because it is "key" to the recuperation.
The meeting also read the Joint Declaration of the Summit, which can be downloaded at this link. Meanwhile, Begoña Cristeto, partner in charge of Automotive, Industry and Chemistry at KPMG, has presented the main conclusions of the study "International expansion of Spanish companies: a new global scenario."
This work reveals that, despite the impact of the crisis, 77% of the managers surveyed are exploring new international opportunities after the outbreak of the pandemic. Consequently, international business (which respondents consider less impacted than domestic) will foreseeably gain a share in the turnover of national companies.
