Chancellor Merkel, Mr Prime Minister of Lower Saxony(Christian Wulff), Mr President of the German Association for Information Technology (Dr Scheer),
Firstly, thank you.
Thank you for the invitation to take part in this event. My thanks to the German Government and to Bitkom, the association of German companies in the ICT sector, for having chosen Spain as a distinguished participant at this year's fair.
As can clearly be seen from its export strength, German industry can boast a high level of recognition around the world. Of course, this recognition also extends to my country, to Spanish society, which sees a model for innovative capacity in German industry, a model for reliability and a model for taking pride in doing a good job.
For that reason, this unique invitation to Spain from such a cutting-edge sector of German industry as the ICT sector and being present at one of the most important trade fairs in the world can only fill us with pride and satisfaction.
Such an invitation also serves to recognise our road to development and offers us the opportunity to showcase the significantly impressive development of the ICT sector in Spain.
Allow me then to now provide a brief explanation of the opportunity provided by our presence here today.
For several years now, my country has been undertaking a decisive modernisation process of its production fabric, a clear commitment to the most innovative sectors of the economy and those with the opportunity to provide the most added value.
Since 2004, Spain has tripled public investment in Research, Development and Innovation, enabling us to overcome the underdevelopment of our past, achieve the EU average in this field and support the important growth of the technology sectors, sectors such as:
• the Renewable and Clean Energy Sector, in which Spain is now the third country in the world in terms of installed power and is home to two of the three largest companies;
• the Biotechnology and Health Sector, in which we are among the world leaders in basic research and have a corporate export fabric that is making unprecedented commitments to investment in R&D+i with the second largest increase among the EU-15 in terms of patent applications over the last ten years;
• The Aerospace Sector, where we are global leaders in compound materials and in the manufacture of small- and medium-sized aircraft, as well as gas turbine engines;
• And this commitment to innovation has also been a decisive factor for the establishment of outstanding positions in traditional activities such as the automotive industry, in which we are the third most important country in Europe, exporting over 80% of our production output to the international markets.
The international economic and financial crisis that has struck us all and that has led to the sudden readjustment of an unbalanced construction sector in Spain has done nothing but confirm and reinforce the need to continue our progress down this path.
For that reason and in order to support and guarantee economic recovery, the Government of Spain has now designed a global Strategy; a Strategy for a sustainable economy, an economy that, through new measures, promotes the development of these innovative activities whilst also decisively implementing a series of reforms aimed at increasing the competitiveness of our economy, adapting the labour market to the new needs of our production model and assuring the budget sustainability of and compliance with the Stability Pact in the short-, medium- and long-term.
All these reforms are under way and will be fully operational before the middle of this year.
So, this is the general framework (one of renovation and reform for the Spanish production model) within which we must view our progress in terms of Information and Communication Technologies.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The ICT Sector in Spain turned over 107,346 million euros last year. It provided work to nearly 400,000 people and knew how to resist the onslaught of the crisis with employment growth of 11% over the last two years.
Five years ago, we launched a highly-ambitious plan to put Spain in a very important position within the Information Society. This "Plan Avanza" with an original economic assignment of 8,000 million euros between 2005 and 2010 and which has achieved additional funding of over 4,000 million euros, enabling our public investment in ICTs to grow from 5 per cent to 20 per cent annually over the course of this period.
The results clearly demonstrate the opportunities provided by this initiative, which the Government has shared with companies, the public and other authorities:
• the number of Internet users has doubled in only 6 years, increasing from 12 to 24 million people;
• Broadband coverage now reaches 99% of the population and we are one of the leading countries in terms of average connection speeds;
• Spain is the leading European company in terms of the corporate uptake of broadband and, in terms of e-business, we have reduced our distance from Europe by 15 percentage points since 2004;
• close to 8 million people have benefitted from our mobile telephony and broadband coverage expansion plans;
• we are also pioneers in terms of the development of Digital Terrestrial Television, with 98% of the Spanish population currently covered by this service, above the European average, and more than 23 million DTT receivers sold.
By using ICT, we are also modernising our Public Authorities and the provision of public services:
• 96% of the total volume of official procedures carried out every year are done so through remote means and more than 15 million Spaniards hold a national identification document that includes a secure electronic signature;
• Spain is also making rapid progress in terms of Online Healthcare Services: 97% of our primary healthcare doctors have electronic access to the medical history of their patients.
If there is one area in which adaptation to the Knowledge Society is of unquestionable strategic importance, that would be in Education:
• 98% of Spanish schools have access to broadband connections and are equipped with ICT resources, well above the European average. Along the same lines, I should highlight the development of the 'Agrega' open source education platform, which has received numerous international awards and recognition and has become a model for many countries, having already been adopted in the United Kingdom.
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are also transforming the tourism industry in Spain because the role that ICT is being called to play in the new sustainable and quality tourism model we are promoting is of fundamental importance:
• the Internet is greatly changing the way in which consumers plan and buy their holidays; and therefore the way in which tourism suppliers advertise and sell their services. The Spanish Ministry of Tourism is constantly implementing new initiatives in this regard, such as the new Internet portal for Turismo de España (spain.info), whose objective is to enhance and improve the way it interacts with Internet users.
Basically, progress in Information and Communication Technologies means progress in all other production sectors, the increase in competitiveness for an entire country. Approximately forty per cent of the increase in our production output can be attributed to ICT and Spain is one of the countries in the EU (fourth over the 2004-2007 period) to have experienced the greatest increase in added value generated by ICT.
We can similarly attribute our growing international presence to ICT:
• the second largest European telecommunications operator by number of customers is Spanish. We have companies that lead the world in terms of transport, defence and security systems management. An example of this is that one third of global air traffic is managed using Spanish systems;
• our ICT exports represent 3% of our GDP, a figure that puts Spain above other important countries such as France or Italy;
• the commitment to ICT has helped Spain develop the largest financial group in the Eurozone, the leading European textile group, the largest chain of holiday hotels in the world, five of the ten most important infrastructure management companies in the world and one of the leading renewables industries in the world.
There can be little doubt then for a country such as Spain that this sector is key for laying the foundations of a more competitive and sustainable economy as we exit this crisis. If there is something that the majority of countries have agreed upon in terms of facing this crisis, it would be in having looked to innovation, and ICT in particular, as the tools on which to support ourselves and to be used as the basis for a renewed economic model.
In Europe, this need for transformation must be transposed onto the EU 2020 Strategy, which Spain wants to see approved during its current Presidency, a strategy that must act to accelerate the return of European economies to solid growth and job creation and that, most essentially, must include the strategic value of ICT.
Furthermore, from our rotating Presidency of the European Union, we want to launch a new European Digital Agenda at the next informal meeting of the Council to be held in Granada in April: The Granada Strategy. This should be the next step forward in developing the Information Society within the framework of the European Union.
We have already submitted a Proposal for a Digital Europe to the Commission that contains all the issues we consider to be of a priority nature. These issues include the adoption of a European White Paper on the Rights of Users, network security and the protection of intellectual property rights, and the promotion of an environment in favour of deploying and using advanced infrastructures and services.
Progress must be made in the development of a Single Digital Market that removes national borders and maintains a balance between online content distribution services and the rights of users.
Europe needs to move forward and needs to do so now so we are not left trailing behind the United States and the emerging nations.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Spain is an important partner of Germany in terms of its foreign trade and one of the five leading European markets in terms of cutting-edge technologies. We have a solid link to Ibero-America and the experience of Spanish companies on that continent, which makes them attractive for cooperation, project planning and the setting up of joint ventures.
We want our presence at CeBIT to be useful for everyone concerned. We came to this great Trade Fair with our gaze firmly fixed on the future, to share and forge renewed links that will make everyone here stronger.
Allow me to reiterate my deepest gratitude to the Organisation and to the German Government for this invitation, and to invite everyone to visit the Spain pavilions and take part in the activities the Spanish delegation has prepared.
Above all, this is yet another opportunity to demonstrate the friendship, loyalty and respect that exists between the Governments and between the peoples of Germany and Spain.
That is what matters most.
Thank you.