​Mariano Rajoy highlights that bilateral trade between Spain and Portugal amounted to 28.8 billion euros in 2016

Amarante Palace, Vila Real (Portugal)

President of the Government Rajoy stated that Spain and Portugal are two "countries that are neighbours and friends", with a "privileged relationship" and "very close" trade relations. The President of the Government remarked that "Portugal is a very important country and marketplace for Spain, with which it maintains an intense flow of trade and investment".

In this regard, he asserted that "nowadays the border between Spain and Portugal is a space for constant exchanges and our bilateral trade constitutes a very important source of growth for the border regions of both countries". Furthermore, the figures clearly demonstrate this: in 2016, trade between the two countries amounted to 28.8 billion euros, and there are now 2,600 joint enterprises "operating in both markets".

Since "many companies already focus on the Iberian market as a single space", the 29th Portugal-Spain Summit "has dealt with cross-border cooperation in a special manner", he stated.

Mariano Rajoy also expressed the clear commitment of the Government of Spain "to continue extending economic and trade relations", between the two countries.

Exit from the crisis

On another note, the President of the Government congratulated "Portugal, its companies and the Portuguese people on the efforts that have made and the reforms undertaken", since all of this has allowed them to overcome the "tough" economic crisis of recent years.

Mariano Rajoy pointed out that Spain has also overcome "the effects of an unprecedented crisis in our history". "Thanks to the ambitious pro-reform agenda we set in motion back in 2012", Spain is now "growing faster than the other Eurozone economies and creating jobs at a rate never previously seen".

Pool Moncloa / Diego CrespoOn this point, President of the Government Rajoy recalled that the Spanish economy grew by 3.2% in 2016 and everything would point to this trend continuing in 2017: in the first quarter of the year, we have enjoyed growth of 0.8%, while the forecast for the year as a whole stands at 2.7%. He claimed that "the Spanish economy will recover the level of GDP before the crisis" during the first half of 2017.

The President of the Government pointed out that economic growth is going hand-in-hand with "strong job creation", since, according to the Labour Force Survey, the number of people now in work in Spain amounts to 18,438,300. In his opinion, this change in trend in employment is a consequence of the reduction in the public deficit, the re-structuring of the financial sector, the labour reform and the energy reform.

Foreign trade sector developing nicely

Mariano Rajoy stressed that "all these reforms have been crucial for the foreign trade sector", because "they have enabled our companies to become more competitive and our products to become more attractive".

On this point, he highlighted the important role of exports in exiting the crisis. He pointed out that, before the crisis, Spain exported one quarter of its national GDP, whereas "we now export more than one third". In March 2017, we hit the figure of 26.23 billion euros, remarked Mariano Rajoy.

The President of the Government added that, "since the start of the crisis, our export base has increased by 50% and today a total of 50,000 companies are regularly exporting beyond our borders".

The positive development of exports, explained the President of the Government, has translated into "a positive foreign trade balance for the last five straight years in Spain, an "unprecedented event" in Spain's recent history. He added that "the Spanish economy is growing without getting into debt and is growing because it produces and because it exports".