The Leading Brands of Spain Association, the Spanish Council of Chambers of Commerce and the Spanish Exporters and Investors Club formally constituted the Business Committee for Internationalisation on 13 January. This entity was designed to be a permanent platform for the analysis and elaboration of ideas to reinforce the internationalisation and competitiveness of Spanish companies. These ideas will be presented to the Government and to the other public Administrations so that they may be taken into consideration in the formulation of new public policies and strategies in these fields.

The Chairman of the Council of Chambers of Commerce, Javier Gómez-Navarro, the Chairman of the Spanish Exporters and Investors Club, Balbino Prieto, and the Chairman of the Leading Brands of Spain Association, José Luis Bonet, signed the constitutional agreement for this Committee, which comes under the framework of the initiatives drawn up during the First Summit on Internationalisation, held in Madrid last October.

For José Luis Bonet, Chairman of the Leading Brands of Spain Association, ‘this Business Committee was established as a means of continuing the exchange of ideas and initiatives for the future between companies, their brands and the government so that our foreign sector can take on the full weight of the essential role it plays in our economy. It is an entity built on collaboration and creativity, and it aims to serve as an additional means of overcoming the economic crisis affecting us all today. In short, it is an instrument for sharing responsibility.’

According to a statement given by the Chairman of the Council of Chambers of Commerce, Javier Gómez-Navarro during the aforementioned event, ‘the big challenge that our country faces in the medium term is to make internationalisation what it still is not today: the main engine of our economy and of companies themselves, without which, in the near future, many would be destined to disappear. That being said, it is the lack of awareness of internationalisation by Spanish society and little institutional co-ordination existing to tackle this major challenge that has led us to establish this Business Committee for Internationalisation (BCI), which will enable us not only to optimise resources, but to improve dialogue, co-ordination and collaboration between government bodies and businesses in order to meet this important goal.’

For his part, the Chairman of the Spanish Exporters and Investors Club, Balbino Prieto, emphasised that ‘within the context of an open economy like that of Spain, a decision in favour of competitiveness is, put simply, a decision for survival, just as a decision in favour of internationalisation is a decision for growth. This is precisely the solution that business leaders wish to express to the government and to Spanish society: a growth strategy to overcome the current economic crisis must, without a doubt, be based on internationalisation.’

In accordance with the aim of the agreement signed by the three institutions, the BCI has set out three principal objectives as a starting point: to analyse and create awareness of problems affecting internationalisation and competitiveness; to work on the development of these measures with government bodies; and to organise Summits on Internationalisation and other such events in the future, in order to continue the search for practical initiatives.

In order to achieve the first objective, the BCI will look at those situations still presenting barriers and will identify the requirements of companies with a view to offering guidance during the formulation of public and support policies in this field.

With respect to collaboration with government bodies, the BCI will propose appropriate initiatives that will enable it to continue to promote channels and exchanges of dialogue with those entities. The BCI also proposes collaboration in all areas and programmes which may lead to improvements in this area.

The BCI is the outcome of a decision taken at last October’s First Summit on Internationalisation. That event saw more than 600 Spanish businesses take the initiative for the first time to present the government, represented by the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Commerce, Miguel Sebastián, and the other government bodies, with a comprehensive list of specific suggestions and measures to overcome the current economic crisis, all of which are centred on the international presence of companies and improvements to competitiveness.

Suggestions worthy of mention include: increasing company participation in the formulation of internationalisation policies and plans; establishing a model of collaboration between the different levels and spheres of those government bodies devoted to internationalisation; reforming and enhancing the foreign service; and supporting an alliance with the leading Spanish brands in order to serve as driving forces.

Likewise, the companies requested that the government should provide the Spanish Official Credit Institute (ICO) with more means of financing the export industry, create a venture capital fund to launch Spanish brands or to acquire foreign ones, improve innovation funding and promote the ‘country brand’ image.

Among the considerations regarding improvements in competitiveness, the document presented to the Minister of Industry includes, among others, measures to allow businesses to make better use of innovation policies, a reduction in social security contributions, labour market reforms, simplification of bureaucratic processes and the defence of a single market.