Speech by President of the Government at closing ceremony of SICA-Spain Business Meeting

Guatemala City (Guatemala)

Mr President of Guatemala, Otto Pérez Molina; Heads of State; Madam Secretary-General of SICA (Central American Integration System); business leaders, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

For me it is a pleasure to be here today at the closing ceremony of this Business Meeting in Guatemala City, among companies from Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, the Dominican Republic and my own country, Spain.

I think that this Business Meeting reflects the mutual interest of the companies in our respective countries and their desire to undertake joint ventures. As I said just a few months ago at the Ibero-American Summit, a true sense of community exists with Latin America and particularly with the countries of Central America. This sensation has its roots in profound historical and social ties, which translates into our own way of understanding in economic and business terms. Trade, investment and common projects are the natural consequence of these ties.

This explains the dynamic nature of our economic relations. In 2014, we have posted record figures in terms of bilateral trade between Spain and the countries in the region, at 1.86 billion euros and record exports to Spain of 578 million euros. Our bilateral investments are today characterised by their high level in historic terms, with 541 million euros of accumulated investment from the region in Spain and 4.21 billion euros from Spain in the region. But, above all, due to its stability; even during the crisis, disinvestments were barely noted. That shows the desire to stay and the commitment of our companies.

Ladies and gentlemen,

As I said, the mutual interest of both Spain and Central America and the Dominican Republic can be explained by historic reasons; but that is only a partial explanation. Moreover, the interest of Spanish companies in the region can be explained, to a great extent, by the excellent outlook for the future.

This is a dynamic region, with average growth of almost 4%, a strategic geographic position in terms of world trade and positive demographics. Moreover, the institutional framework is increasingly robust, which allows for greater development and growth at this time. This all explains the increase in the ease with which we have conducted business in the other countries in the region in recent years.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Our citizens and companies such as those here today are the leading figures in our growth and job creation; but our governments are under a responsibility to accompany them, to lay out the ground rules and the game plan so that companies and citizens can carry on their activities as smoothly as possible.

Spain has always understood very well the opportunities offered by opening up one's economy. Spain has historically grown more when it has opened up and, for that reason, the cornerstone of the reformist agenda of my government has been to transform the Spanish economy to recover its competitiveness, as well as to boost the capacity of our companies to compete on the international stage. I am convinced that this is the only way to achieve the primary goal of my government, which is job creation. We have done that with far-reaching reforms that haven't always been easy, either for our citizens or for my government. But the results are coming through; we have been growing for a year and a half, we head up the growth rate in the Eurozone at 1.4% and the forecasts by all bodies for 2015 clearly show growth of in excess of 2%.

Spain is also growing on sound foundations, we are more competitive than our partners, we have the lowest inflation in our history (-0.2% in 2014) - below that of our partners, our exports grew by 2.5% in 2014, to post an all-time record, we once again have a working surplus for the second year in a row and we are the 18th country in the world in terms of exports.

And, the most important aspect is that we are creating jobs and reducing unemployment, and we are doing so with a much lower rate of growth. In 2014, 433,900 jobs were created and we expect to see a total of one million new jobs in Spain between last year and this.

In short, I want to highlight the importance of opening up to trade and investment with the rest of the world in terms of the resulting growth and job creation. At least, that is our experience.

Ladies and gentlemen,

In this area, the work of government is fundamental. Not only are we responsible for creating the conditions so that companies can compete, we are also entrusted with driving trade opportunities and fostering integration. I will highlight three areas: bilateral agreement, regional integration processes and agreements between different regions.

The governments in the region and Europe have been strengthening our bilateral institutional framework for years now. The EU's generalised preference system has facilitated trade between our countries. Furthermore, we have signed the Reciprocal Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement, double tax treaties and debt conversion programme. All of this has undoubtedly facilitated relations between Spain and each of the countries in the region.

But our governments have also helped drive regional economic integration processes. These processes increase the opportunities of companies and citizens, creating larger markets in which they can trade, invest, work and innovate. That is what generates growth and prosperity. I wish to congratulate all the governments present here for the progress made in such a short time in relation to Central American integration. In Europe, the path we set out on almost 60 years ago, as was mentioned here, has taken us a long way.

And thirdly, our regions, the European Union and Central America, have boosted mutual integration. The same logic, the same desire to open up to trade is behind the agreement between the European Union and the countries of Central America. This is an ambitious agreement that covers not only trade issues but also political dialogue and cooperation. This is the first agreement of this type that the European Union has signed with another region and shows the privileged position that it occupies. The agreement opens a new era in relations between the European Union and Central America, and believe me when I say that this pleases us all enormously.

So our governments are working to establish relations at different levels - bilateral, regional and inter-regional - to facilitate opening up trade and for companies to harness mutual business opportunities that lead to prosperity and growth.

Ladies and gentlemen,

This Business Meeting is a fine example of the desire to harness business opportunities opening up in the region. This is an excellent platform for exploring common projects.

And it is not the first. Spanish trade policy devotes a great deal of attention to Central America. Not long ago, the Spanish Foreign Trade Institute (Spanish acronym: ICO) organised a series of workshops under the Central America-Spain Multilateral Partnership. Central America was chosen because our companies perceive opportunities for collaboration in the region.

I would like to stress that, although meetings are held between Spain and individual countries, today's meeting has a regional focus. The concept of the region of Central America is increasingly taking on a new meaning, beyond its mere geographic boundaries. This goes hand-in-hand with the integration process and it is becoming increasingly frequent to expand at a regional level, dividing production between various countries, and it is becoming increasingly frequent to implement joint ventures, whether in terms of infrastructure, products or services.

In short, economic relations between Spain and the countries present here are enjoying a buoyant period, with investment and trade relations that reflect the vitality of our business communities. The companies present here are the leading players in these dynamic relations while our governments are working at all levels to promote this work. I have no doubts surrounding the commitment and the energy of all the players to maintain this spirit, which is best mirrored in acts such as this of today, here in Guatemala City.

Thank you very much.